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THE 



HOUSEWIFE'S TREASURE. 



MANUAL OF INFORMATION 



ON EVERYTHING 



That relates to Household Economies. 






0, 






J 



FRANK M. REED, 

PUBLISHER, 

New York. 

1^1 <:■ 



liOOD BOOKS FOR W% MD OlD, MIEKIED 11 SIllE. 



CENTS. 

The model L,etter-l¥ritcr 15 

Old Secrets and New DiKcoTerics SO 

Preserving' and JTIanufacturing^ Secrets 50 

Housewife's Treasure 30 

Educating^ the Horse 25 

L.ife in the Back Woods 20 

The American Sphinx 25 

Courtship and Marriage 15 

I^cisiirc-Hour Woric^ for Ijadies 20 

Every liady Her Own Dressmaker HO 

Health Hints. A Book on Beauty 50 

The Amateur's Guide to Maggie and Mystery 25 

Napoleon's Oraculum 15 

Ventriloquism (with Instractions for Making the Magic Whistle) 15 

Love and Courtship Cards 30 

An Easy Road to Fortune 50 

The Eover's Companion 25 

Magric I'hotogfraphs, or Spirit Pictures 30 

Magic Trick Cards 25 

Magic Dial for Secret Correspondence.... 25 

The Black Art Fully Exposed and Eaid Bare 25 

How to Write Short-Hand 25 

How to Talk and Debate 15 

Ho^v to Entertain a Social Party 25 

. Shadow Pantomime of Mother Goose 30 

Swimming and Skating. A Guide for Learners 20 

Spectral Illusions. A New Method of Showing Ghosts 50 

Singing Made Easy 20 

The Happy Home Songster • 20 

The Fireside Songster SSO 

How to AVoo and Ho^r to W^in 15 

Our Boys' and Girls' Favorite Speaker 20 

The Complete Fortune-Teller and Dream Book 15 

The Dancer's Guide and Bali-Room Companion 25 

How to Behave. A Guide to True Politeness 15 

Eaughing Gas. With Comic Illustrations 25 

Salt, Pepper and Mustard. A Book of Fun SO 

The Jolly Joker's Game-Bag. A Comic Book 15 

Secrets for Farmers SO 

The STvindlers of America: Who They Are, and How They Work 25 

The Common-Sense Cook-Book 20 

Robinson Crusoe. Prof usely Illustrated 30 

The Home Chemist and Perfumer 20 

25 First-Class Photographs for SI, or 10 for 50 

30 Artistic Gem Chromos for $1, or 12 for 50 



A BEAUTrPULLY ILLUSTRATED CATALOGUE FREE. 



Address FR^ISTK IVT. REEE), 

139 EIGHTH STREET, NEW^ TORK. 



THIS BOOK IS 

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, by 

F. M. REED, 

in the OfSce of the librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 



THE HOUSEWIFE'S TREASURE. 



Paper Hangring;. — The first thing to be thought of is the se- 
lection of paper hangings. According to the taste or judgment with 
which the pattern is chosen, so will the appearance of the room, 
when prepared, be agreeable or displeasing. Large patterns should, 
of course, be only used in large rooms. Dark-tinted papers are 
most suitable for light rooms, and light papers for dark rooms ; 
many a dingy or gloomy apartment may be made to wear a cheer- 
ful aspect by attention to this particular. Stripes, whether on a 
lady's dress, or on the walls of a room, always give the effect of 
hight ; consequently a low room is improved by being hung with a 
striped paper. The effect is produced by a wavy stripe as well as 
a straight one, and, as curved lines are the most graceful, they 
should generally be preferred. Any pattern with lines crossed so 
as to form a square, is unsuitable for a low room ; but with the lines 
made sloping or diagonal, there is not the same objection. A 
diamond trellis pattern, with a small plant creeping over it, looks 
well in a small summer parlor. For a common sitting-room, a 
small geometrical pattern is very suitable ; being well covered, it 
does not show accidental stains or bruises, and, in the constant re- 
petition of the design, there is no one object to attract the eye more 
than another. These are sometimes called Elizabethan patterns ; 
they are much used for staircases, halls, and passages, but they are 
not to be chosen at random. According to the hight and dimen- 
sions of the passage or staircase, such should be the pattern. A 
large pattern on a narrow staircase, and in a passage not more than 
eight feet in hight, has a very heavy and disagreeable effect. A 
light gray, or yellow marble, divided into blocks by thin lines, and 
varnished, will be found suitable for most passages, if care be taken 
to adapt the size of the blocks to the place where they are to ap- 
pear. A size that would look well in a hall twenty feet wide, 
would be altogether too large in one of only four or six feet. Many 
persons must have noticed, in their visits of business or pleasure, 
that some houses present a cheerful aspect as soon as the door is 
opened, while others look so dull that they make one low-spirited 
upon entering them. The difference is caused by the good or bad 
taste with which they have been papered and painted. A safe rule 



4 The Housewife^ s Treasure. 

with regard to paper hangings, is to choose nothing that looks ex- 
travagant or unnatural. Regard should be had to the uses of an 
apartment ; a drawing-room should be light and cheerful ; a parlor 
should look warm and comfortable without being gloomy; bedroom 
papers should be cool and quiet, and generally of a small pattern, 
and of such colors as harmonize with bed-furniture and other fit- 
tings. It is worth while to consider the sort of pictures to be hung 
on a wall ; gilt frames show best on a dark ground, and dark frames 
on a light ground ; taking care however to avoid violent contrasts. 
Heavy borders are seldom used now ; they make a room low, with- 
out being ornamental. 

The paper being purchased, the walk should next be looked to, 
in order to be sure that they are in proper condition to hold the 
paper. A new unwhitewashed wall will absorb the paste so rapidly 
that, before drying, there will be left too little body of paste on the 
surface to hold the paper. A coating of good glue size, made by 
dissolving a half a pound of glue in a gallon of water, or a coating 
of good paste, put on and allowed to dry before the paper is hung, 
will provide for this difficulty. 

If the wall has already been papered it should be removed. Many 
lives have been lost from the laziness or ignorance of pager-hangers, 
who have laid on one paper above another, instead of tearing off 
the old one before hanging the new. There was a very handsome 
house near one of our provincial towns which could never keep its 
tenants, and at last stood empty and became worthless, because a 
detestable fever seized upon every family that lived in it. A ready- 
witted observer promised the owner to find out the cause. He 
traced the mischief to one room, and presently conjectured what 
was the matter there. He let a slip of glass into the wall, and 
found it the next day dimmed with a foetid condensed vapor. He 
tore down a strip of paper, and found abundant cause for any 
amount of fever. For generations the walls had been papered 
afresh, without the removal of anything underneath. And there 
was the putrid size of old paper inches deep ! A thorough 
clearance, and scraping, and cleaning, put an end to the fever, and 
restored the value of the house. 

If the wall be whitewashed, it should be scratched with a stiff 
brush, to remove every particle of loose lime from the surface; after 
which it should be thoroughly swept down with a broom, and coat- 
ed with the glue size or thin paste. 

A long table of thin boards cleated together and placed on 
wooden horses, such as are used by carpenters, a pair of sharp 
shears — with long blades if possible — a whitewash brush, a pail for 
paste, and a yard of cotton cloth, are the implements required. 
The table or board platform should be level on its upper surface to 



The Housewife^ Treasure. 5 

facilitate the distribution of the paste. The latter should be free 
from lumps, and should be laid on as evenly as possible. It should 
be made of good sweet rye or wheat flour, beaten smooth in cold 
water before boiling, and should not be allowed to boil more than 
a minute or two, but should be raised to the boiling point slowly, 
being continually stirred till it is taken from the fire. 

Inexpert hands often find difficulty in making the patterns match 
in the juxtaposed pieces. No general directions can be given for 
this, but a little study at the outset will often save cutting to waste, 
and other difficulties.. In this matter, as in others, it is wise to 
"first be sure you are right, then go ahead." As soon as the proper 
way to cut the paper is decided upon, a whole roll, or more, may 
be cut at once, and the pieces laid, printed side downwards, upon 
the table, weights being placed upon the ends to prevent curling. 
The paste should then be applied to the back of the uppermost 
piece, as expeditiously as possible, as the longer the time employed 
in this part of the operation, the more tender will the paper get, 
and the more difficult it will be to lay it properly. 

The upper end of the piece should then be taken by the corners, 
and the operator, stepping upon a bench or step-ladder, should 
barely stick the piece at the top, and in such a manner that the 
edge shall coincide with the piece previously hung ; this can be done 
by sighting down the trimmed edge of the piece, while it is held in 
the hands. The cloth should now be held in a loose bunch, and 
the paper smoothed with it from top to bottom, care being taken 
to work out all air from under the paper, which, if not thoroughly 
done, will give it a very unsightly blistered appearance. 

If the wall be uneven or crooked, as is often the case in old 
houses, it will be difficult to avoid wrinkles, but they can be most- 
ly god rid of, by cutting the paper and allowing the cut edges to 
lap over each other, in places where there Avould otherwise be a 
wrinkle. 

By following these directions the most inexperienced will be able 
to do a reasonably tidy piece of work, but of course much skill is 
only secured by practice. 

To clean Wall Paper. — Cut into 8 half-quarters a stale 
quartern loaf; with one of these pieces, after having blown off all 
the dust from the paper to be cleaned by means of a good pair of 
bellows, begin at the top of the room, holding the crust in the hand, 
and wiping lightly downward with the crumb, about half a yard at 
each stroke, till the upper part of the hangings is completely clean- 
ed all round ; then go again round with the like sweeping stroke 
downward, always commencing each successive course a little 
higher than the upper stroke had extended, till the bottom be 



6 TJic Housewife' s Treasure. 

finished. This operation, if carefully performed, will frequently 
make very old paper look almost equal to new. Great caution must 
be used not by any means to rub the paper hard, nor to attempt 
cleaning it the cross or horizontal way. The dirty part of the bread 
too must be each time cut away, and the pieces renewed as often 
as is necessary. 

Paste for Paper Hang'ing'. — A new form of paste for at- 
taching paper hangings to walls, and one which, besides possessing 
the merit of cheapness, has the advantage of preventing the paper 
from separating or peeling ofT, is prepared by first softening i8 
pounds of finely powdered bole in water, and then draining ofif the 
surplus water from the mass. One and a quarter pounds of glue 
are next to be boiled into glue water, and the bole and two pounds 
of gypsum are then stirred in, and the whole mass forced through a 
sieve by means of a brush. This is afterwards diluted with water to 
the condition of a thin paste or dressing, when it is ready for use. 
This paste is not only much cheaper than the ordinary flour paste, 
but it has the advantage of adhering better to whitewashed surfaces, 
especially to walls that have been coated over several times, and 
from which the coating has not been carefully removed. In some 
cases it is advisable, when putting fine paper on old walls, to coat 
them by means of this paste with a ground paper, and to apply the 
paper hanging itself to this with the ordinary paste. 

To Clean Carpets. — Brussels carpets may be .cleaned as 
follows: — Take them up and shake and beat them, so as to render 
them perfectly free from dust. Have the floor thoroughly scoured 
and dry, and nail the carpet firmly down upon it. If still much 
soiled, it may be cleaned in the following manner: — Take a pailful 
of clean cold spring water, and put into it about 3 gills of ox-gall. 
Take another pail with clean cold water only. Now rub with a 
soft scrubbing brush some of the ox-gall water on the carpet, which 
will raise a lather. When a conveniant sized portion is done, wash 
the lather off with a clean linen cloth dipped in the clean water. 
Let this water be changed frequently. When all the lather has 
disappeared, rub the part with a clean dry cloth. After all is done, 
open the window to allow the carpet to dry. A carpet treated in 
this manner will be greatly refreshed in color, particulary the greens. 
— In nulling down a carpet after the floor has been washed, be cer- 
tain that the floor is quite dry, or the nails will rust and injure the 
carpet. Fuller's earth is used for cleaning carpets, and weak solu- 
tions of alum or soda are used for reviving the colors. The crumb 
of a hot wheaten loaf rubbed over a carpet has been found effective. 

To remove Grease fVoiii Carpets. — i. Mix a little soap 
into a gallon of warm soft water, then add half an ounce of borax; 



The Housewife' s Ttrasure. 7 

wash the part well with clean cloth, and the grease or dirty spot 
will soon disappear. — 2. Cover the grease spot with whiting, and let 
it remain until it becomes saturated with the grease; then scrape 
it off, and cover it with another coat of whiting, and if this does not 
remove the grease, repeat the application. Three coats of whiting 
will, in most cases, remove the grease, when it should be brushed 
off with a clothes brush. If oil has been spilt on a carpet, that part 
of the carpet must be loosened up, and the floor beneath it well 
scrubbed with warm soap and water, and fuller's earth ; otherwise 
the grease will continue yet to come through. 

Hoir to use and maaiag^e Brooms. — First, buy your 
broom; and in buying, choose green brush. See that the broom- 
head will not shake in the handle ; if it does, reject it ; for the handle 
having been green when the broom was made, in sweeping the 
brush will keep falling out. Next, open the broom below the sewing, 
and see if there is any stalk. It should be all brush ; for as the stalk 
of broom corn is brittle ; if there are any below the twine, they will 
be continually breaking off. Now, in using a broom, don't expect 
it to support you through the process of sweeping ; that is how it 
gets its bent appearance or curl on the edge which some brooms 
have, and all the good that comes of it is, that you wear yourself, 
carpet and broom out quicker. We have seen a broom used so 
unskillfuUy, that one would almost think the person engaged in 
using it was endeavoring to change the place of the dust from the 
floor to the furniture. It requires some science, or at least some 
skill, to use a broom well, as it does to do anything else. To use a 
broom skillfully, the handle should incline forward and not backward, 
as is often the case. If the top of the broom inclines forward of the 
part next the floor it v/ill prevent much of the dust from rising into 
the air, and will carry it along by a gentle sliding motion toward the 
place where it is to be disposed of If, on the other hand, the 
handle of the broom inclines backward, the dust is sent into the air 
by a kind of jerk, to the great annoyance of those who occupy the 
room, and to the great detriment of everything the apartment 
contains. More than this, it wears the threads of the carpet quicker, 
injures the paint more, if the room is uncarpeted, and destroys the 
broom sooner than if the sweeping was done in a more rational way. 
A new broom sweeps clean, because it is the proper shape ; "keep it 
so by sweeping on each side alternately. Wetting it before sweeping, 
will restore its flexibility ; and if wet in boiling suds, once a week, 
they will become very tough, will not cut a carpet, last much 
longer and always sweep like a new broom. Do not keep a broom 
near the fire; the brush is liable to break, being so dry. Do not 
store brooms where there are rats or mice ; they like the corn. A 



8 The Housewife' s Treasure. 

broom that is all out of shape, may be restored by soaking, then 
pressed in shape between something heavy. 

To keep Houses cool in Hot l¥eather. — In very hot 
days a cool apartment is a real luxury to be had far oftener than 
most people suppose possible. The secret consists, not in letting in 
cool air, for naturally all do that whenever they have the chance ; 
but in keeping out the hot air. If the air outside a room or house 
be cooler than the air inside, let it in by all means; but if it be 
hotter, carefally keep it out. A stair-case window left open during 
the night will often cool thepassagesof a house, and the rooms, too, 
if their doors be not shut; but it must be closed at 8 or 9 o'clock, 
in the morning, or, if on the sunny side, at 4 or 5 o'clock, and the 
blind drawn down. The mistake people generally make is to throw 
open their windows at all hours of the day, no matter whether the 
atmosphere outside be cool or scorching. Let us have some air, they 
say, and in comes the treacherous breeze — for even hot air is pleasant 
while it is gently blowing, taking away perspiration, and thereby 
cooling the skin ; but the apartment is made warmer, instead of 
cooler, and as soon as they move out of the draught they find their 
room to be more uncomfortable than before. Let in cool air — keep 
out hot — that is the only formula to insure the minimum of discom- 
fort. Sitting-rooms may generally be kept cool during the whole 
day if the doors be only opened for egress, and the windows kept 
closed and shielded from direct sunshine by a blind. If the atmos- 
phere of a room be impure from any cause, let it be renewed ; hot 
air is less injurious than bad air. If a room be small in comparison 
with the number of persons engaged in it, free ventilation becomes 
indispensable. 

Country Soap making. — In most parts of this country it 
is as convenient, and much cheaper, to make soap from the lye of 
leached ashes than from a soda lye. To leach the ashes properly 
for this purpose, from two to five per cent, of lime should be added, 
to give proper causticity to the potash in solution which the lye 
contains. The ordinary process is to have a receptacle made of 
boards and lined with straw, cone-shaped, the lye running through 
at the bottom. Upon the straw, fresh wood ashes mixed with a 
little lime, is placed, and water poured thcron and allowed to filter 
through and trickle out from the point into a proper vessel. The 
lye will not be of uniform strength. Hot water poured upon the 
ashes makes a stronger lye than cold; in other words, it extracts 
more potash from the ashes. To get the lye to a uniform strength, 
and one proper for soap making, boil it until a sound potato will 
float upon its surface. This is the farm wife's specific gravity test, 
and it is as accurate as any sold by the opticians. Then, into a 



The Housewife s Treasure. g 

kettle two-thirds full of lye, in with your melted fat, by ladlefuls at 
a time, and stir until it is creamy; now begin to add the salt by 
small handfuls, stirring carefully and rapidly until a ring made of 
soapy matter on the stirring stick, remains visible. Then allow the 
fire to go out, and the soap to harden. It usually gathers on the 
top of the spent lye, from which it may be lifted when hard, or the 
lye can be poured off by tipping the kettle. Soft soap is made in 
the same way, without the salt. A correspondent of a monthly 
magazine gives the following method of making soap for family use 
in the country: I start the lye to boiling, and then while boiling, if 
the lye is not strong enough to eat the leather off a quill, boil it 
down until it is. When it will just eat the feather, let the kettle be 
a little more than one third full of lye, and put in grease, skins of 
the hogs, bacon rinds, meat fryings, and the like, untill the kettle is 
about two-thirds full. The kettle must not be full, for with the least 
bit too much fire, over the soap goes. It is better to put in a little 
less than the necessary amount of grease. Lye and grease combine 
in certain proportions, but pass the limit, and no amount of boiling 
will take up an excess of grease. It will remain on top, hot or cold, 
and will be very troublesome ; whereas a little too much lye will sink 
to the bottom when the soap comes. If the proportions are good, 
a little fire only is required to keep it boiling, and in a few hours it 
is done. Then take a bucket of weak lye, and let it boil up with 
the soap once. This will not disturb the already made soap, but 
will wash the dirt out that was in the grease, and with it settle to 
the bottom. When the soap is cold it can be cut out in cakes. 
Exposure to the air will soften it down until it is of about the con- 
sistence of mush, and a little darker, growing fairer and fairer. Some, 
instead of putting in lye to wash the dirt out of the soap, put in salt 
and water. The soap thus made is whiter, but is apt to be too 
stiff to use easily in the wash-tub. It makes excellent ball soap for 
washing dirty hands. I take some weaker lye and the clean part of 
that which is left in the bottom of the soap kettles, and enough to 
half fill one of the kettles or more, setting it in some convenient 
place outdoors. I put a stick of wood, on the north side of the top 
of the kettle, lay on some boards, making a roof which is easily 
managed to shed rain, and lay another stick on top to keep the roof 
in place. By lifting one of the boards a little, I can put in from 
time to time whatever soap-fat is gathered in the family through 
the summer. Whenever the sun snines, I remove the cover and stir 
the lye. I facilitate the business a little in this way, and I have by 
fall a half kettle of decent soap, and no trouble with soap-fat in hot 
weather. 

To prepare Animal Fat Tor Soap making:. — Tal- 
low, when exposed at comrrton temperature in the air, gradually 



lo The Housewife's Treasure. 

acquires an unpleasant, rank smell. This can be prevented by 
cutting it in slices, and boiling it in water containing for every one 
hundred pounds of fat (water, thirty-five to forty pounds) one 
quarter of a pound of alum, one half pound of salt; this is boiled 
too^ether and strained ; the cake of strained fat taken up and washed 
in clean water; then remelted at a low heat, and poured into a 
barrel containing twice as much water (by measure) as of the melted 
grease, and to this water add about ten per cent, of good clear sweet 
soap compared to the amount of grease, the water not to be more 
then blood-heat, and the temperature of the grease about the same. 
The whole is thoroughly stirred with a broad stick till cold, when 
it is allowed to rest and separate from the water, which is afterward 
withdrawn, and the fat remaining, in a granular state, completely 
drained, and finally dried in a current of dry air, is then transferred 
and packed in firkins, crocks or barrels. Grained fat thus prepared, 
is kept sweet, and is also acted on by the lye with a far greater 
ease and rapidity, in consequence no doubt of its grain-like state, 
which enables the alkali in the lye to act upon a greater surface at 
once without requiring the boiling of the fat with the lye, and pro- 
ducing a soap free of rank smell, while the grained fat in suet may 
be preserved sweet for soap-making purposes-for years, if thoroughly 
dried before packing away. 

To preserve €3^rease. — Boil all the scraps, rinds, and bones, 
in a weak lye, and the purer grease in clear water. Let the mixture 
cool, take off the cake of grease, and strain it. It is well to do this 
occasionally, as you save it ; for when kept a long time, impure 
grease becomes offensive. You must be careful to dry off all the 
water before laying it away in your grease tub, if you wish it to 
keep sweet. 

To imriiTy ^rcasCo — If the grease is very foul in smell, it 
should be put in a boiler with water, on the fire, (about three times 
as much water as of the grease), a small quantity (say a teaspoonful 
for five to ten pounds of grease) of permanganate of potash added, 
by stirring, to the whole, and after the mixture has cooled a little, 
it is strained through a cloth, and allowed to rest, when the cake of 
fat is taken out and put in a cool place, or in the pot in which it is 
to be remelted for transformation into soap. The purpose of the 
permanganate of potash is to remove the rank odor of the grease, 
which otherwise would contaminate the soap also. 

Cheanical solt Soap. — Take grease, 8 lbs.; caustic soda, 
8 lbs.; sal-soda, i lb.; melt the grease in a kettle, melt the sodas in 
soft water, 4 gals., and pour all into a barrel holding 40 gals, and 
fill up with soft water, and the labor is done. When the caustic 
soda cannot be obtained of soapmakers, you will make it by taking 



The Housewife's Treasure. Ii 

soda-ash and fresh slaked lime, of each eight pounds; dissolving 
them in the water with the sal-soda, and when settled, pouring off 
the clear liquid. 

Home made Soap trom caustic Soda.— It sometimes 
happens that caustic soda is not within reach, and yet sal-soda is 
to be had. To transform this material into a suitable lye for soap- 
making, this is a convenient and suitable process. Dissolve sal-soda, 
say three pounds, in two gallons of warm water. Slake in a firkin 
three pounds of good quicklime; add to it the soda solution; stir the 
whole thoroughly with a stick, and add two gallons of boiling water; 
stir again, and let it settle. Pour off the clear liquor in a clean iron 
boiler*' placed on the fire, and stir into it six pounds of clarified 
grease, and two ounces of powdered borax. Let it boil slowly till 
it gets' thick and ropy (about ten minutes boiling), and pour it into 
a tub or tight box, as stated above. Soap thus made is an excellent 
hard soap for family use; after drying a month or so in a dry-room, 
and cut into bars, it is fit for use. 

Hard Soap.— Take 6 pounds of sal-soda, 6 pounds grease, 
and 3 pounds quick lime. Thoroughly mix the soda and lime in 
four gallons of water, pour off from the sediment, put in the grease 
and boil 20 minutes ; pour off and before entirely cold cut in bars. 

Soft Soap.— I. Take i gallon of soft soap, to which add I 
gill of common salt, and boil an hour. When cold, separate the 
lye from the crude. Add to the crude 2 pounds of sal soda, and 
boil in 2 gallons soft water till dissolved. If you wish it better, 
slice 2 pounds of common bar soap, and dissolve in the above. If 
the soft soap makes more than 3 pounds of crude, add in proportion 
to the sal soda and water. — 2. For one barrel take potash, eight 
pound; melted and clarified fat, eight pounds. Crack the potash 
in small lumps, and put it into a large iron pot of three or four 
gallons capacity, with hot boiling water to nearly fill it. Heat 
the fat in another iron pot quite hot. Put three or four gallons 
of hot water in the barrel, previously cleaned and ready for 
u.se, and ladle in it alternately the hot fat and hot lye ; stir the 
whole briskly for a while before more lye and fat are ladled in, 
and gradually add enough hot water to fill the barrel ; stir again the 
whole, after each ladle of hot water, till the v/hole becomes a creamy 
mass, uniform in its appearance. Allow it to rest for three months 
in a temperate place or cellar. — 3. Dissolve a quarter of a pound of 
lime in a gallon of cold water, then take off the clear ; dissolve half 
a pound of sal-soda in a quart of water, and mix it with the clear 
lime-water ; one pound of brown soap, disolved in a gallon of water, 
is then to be added to the clear liquor formed with the sal-soda and 
lime-water, and this lorms the soap. This soft soap is excellent for 



12 The Housewife's Treasure. 

boiling white linens. It removes all grease that is in them, because 
it contains an excess of caustic lye. About one quart of it is suffi- 
cient for boiling clothes in a ten gallon copper. A quantity of this 
may be made up and kept for constant use. 

Jacksons Universal l¥ashmg^ Compound. — Two and 
a-half pounds of sal soda; one-half pound of borax; one-quarter 
pound of rosin; two ounces of salts tartar; one ounce of liquid 
ammonia; dissolve the soda, borax and rosin in four quarts of water, 
and let it boil ten minutes; when cold, add salts of tartar and am- 
monia, with four gallons of water; keep corked tight. Directions 
for using: — Put your clothes in clear water the night before you 
want to wash; in the morning wring them out and place them in 
a tub; then put in your boiler five gallons of water, one-half pint 
washing compound, one-half pint of soft soap ; when quite hot, but 
not boiling, pour it over your clothes; cover them, and let them 
stand twenty minutes, when they are ready to be looked over, and 
the streaks can be easily rubbed out with the hands; have ready in 
your boiler the same quantity of water, soap and compound; put 
in your clothes, let them come to a boil, when they are ready to rinse 
and hang up; do not let them boil too long, or they will be yellow. 
The same water that your first clothes were washed through will do 
for the next by being heated again. 

German "Washing Fluid. — The use of soda for washing 
linen is very injurious to the tissue, and imparts to it a yellow color. 
In Germany and Belgium,, the following mixture is now extensively 
and beneficially used: 2 lbs. of soda are dissolved in about 5 gallons 
water as hot as the hand can bear it; then next is added to this 
fluid, three large sized tablespoonfuls of liquid ammonia and one 
spoonful of best oil of turpentine. These fluids are incorporated 
rapidly by means of beating them together with a small birch broom. 
The linen is then soaked'in this liquid for three hours, care being 
taken to cover the washing tub by a closely fitting wooden cover. 
By this means the linen is thoroughly cleaned, saving much rubbing, 
time and fuel. Ammonia does not aflect the linen or woolen goods, 
and is largely used as a washing liquor in the North of England. 

Tallow Candles (By Dipping.)— The broaches being covered 
with wicks, are arranged in frames ready for dipping. The dipping 
cistern being filled with tallow of a proper temperature from the 
boiler, one of the frames is placed upon the end of the dipping 
beam, and pressed down gently into the melted fat; it is next with- 
drawn, the bottoms of the candles just touched against a board 
placed on one side of the cistern, for the purpose, and then removed 
to the rack. Another is now taken and treated in the same manner, 
and the process is continued with fresh frames until those first dip- 



The Housewife'' s Treasure, 13 

ped are sufficiently cool to undergo a second immersion. This 
operation is repeated until the candles acquire a sufficient size, when 
they are finally cooled, sorted, weighed, and strung in pounds for 
sale. The dipping beam is simply a piece of wood hung from the 
ceiling by the centre, and arranged with weights at one end, and 
at the other with supports to receive the frame with the wicks. It 
is so balanced that a slight pressure with the fingers is sufficient to 
depress it so as to immerse the wicks or partly formed candles into 
the tallow of the dipping cistern. On withdrawing the pressure, 
the beam again assumes the horizontal position, and thus raises the 
candles out of the melted fal. The dipping-room, or shop, is usually 
situated in the coldest part of the premises,and furnished with a species 
of Venetian shutters throughout the entire length of walls, (if pos- 
sible,) after the manner of breweries, to preserve a constant current 
of cool air. 

Tallow Candlef^ (By Mouliliiig.) — Mould candles are 
made of the best kind of tallow; a mixture of 3 parts of sheep with 
I part of ox suet, both fresh, makes the most glossy and consistent 
candles. The moulds are made of pewter; the part answering to 
the bottom of the candle being left open, and a small hole at the 
top left also for the wick ; eight or more of these moulds are fitted into 
a stool, the upper surface of which forms a kind of trough, the bot- 
tom part of the mould being upwards. The wicks are then intro- 
duced by putting a long wire, furnished with an eye or hook at one 
end, down through the mould, until it protrudes at the bottom, (or 
rather top,)when a wick is inserted and the needle is then immediately 
drawn back. As soon as all the moulds have received their wicks, 
a wire is run through the loop of each and then allowed to rest on 
the top of the moulds ; the protruding portion of the wicks is next 
pulled tight, and properly arranged in the centers of the moulds. 
Melted tallow of a proper temperature is now poured into the trough- 
like part of the stool, until the moulds are all full. The wicks are 
again pulled tight, and the whole allowed to cool. When quite 
cold, the wire that held the wicks is withdrawn, and the candles 
pulled out one by one, by inserting a bodkin into the loop of the 
wick. The better class of moulds are then either bleached by ex- 
posing them to the dew and air for a few days, or by keeping them 
for a few weeks, until sufficiently whitened. 

Preparing* Candle "Wicks. — Borax, 2 ounces; chloride of 
calcium, chloride of ammonium, and saltpetre, i ounce each; then 
dissolved in three quarts of water and filtered ; the wicks are soaked 
in this solution and then dried. Another is: first steep the wicks 
in a solution of lime-water, in which saltpetre has been dissolved. 
To one gallon of water add 2 ounces saltpetre and ^ pound lime. 



14 TJie Housewife' s Treasure. 

Dry well the wicks before using. It improves the light, and pre- 
vents the tallow from running. 

To clariiy TaBloiir. — Dissolve one pound of alum in one 
quart of water, add this to lOO pounds of tallow in a jacket kettle 
(a kettle set in a larger one, and the intervening space filled with 
water. This prevents burning the tallow.) Boil three quarters of 
an hour and skim. Then add one pound of salt dissolved in a quart 
of water. Boil and skim. When well clarified the tallow should be 
nearly the color of water. 

To Harden Tallow. — I have used the following mixture 
with success: To one pound tallow take one fourth of a pound 
common rosin; melt them together, and mold the candles the usual 
way. This will give a candle of superior lighting power, and as 
hard as a wax candle; a vast improvement upon the common tallow 
candle, in all respects except color. 

liiqilid Blue. — i. Take i ounce of soft Prussian blue, powder 
it and put it into a bottle with i quart of clear rain water, and add 
a quarter ounce of oxalic acid. A teaspoonful is sufficient for a large 
washing. — 2. Take half a pound of best double oil of vitriol, mix 
one ounce of Spanish indigo, pounded very fine, and scrape in a 
Httle chalk; have an iron pot half full of sand, set this on the fire; 
when the sand is hot, put the bottle in and let the vitriol, etc., boil 
gently for a quarter of an hour, take the whole off the fire, and let it 
stand for twenty-four hours, and then bottle it for use. 

Methods for Destroying^ Rat§. — i. Mix some fine plaster 
of Paris with an equal quantity of flour; put the mixture in the 
place infested by the vermin, and a vessel full of water beside it. 
The rats will devour the mixture, and then drink; whereupon the 
plaster, brought into contact with the water, will become solid, 
and like a stone in their stomachs, which will cause their death. 
This method is evidently highly preferable to the use of arsenic, 
which is always attended with danger. — 2. Flour, 6 pounds; sugar, 
I pound; sulphur, 4 pounds; phosphorus, 4 pounds. — 3. When a 
house is infested by rats which refuse to nibble at toasted cheese, and 
the usual baits, a few drops of the highly scented oil of rhodium, 
poured on the bottom of a cage top, will always attract before 
morning. Where a trap baited with all manner of edibles had fail- 
ed to attract a single rat, the oil of rhodium caused it to be com- 
pletely crowded night after night. — 4. Mix powdered nux vomica 
with oatmeal, and lay it in their haunts, observing proper precaution 
to prevent accidents. — 5. (Phosphorus paste.) Take of phosphorus, 
8 parts; liquefy it in 180 parts of luke-warm water, pour the whole 
into a mortar, and add immediately 180 parts of rye meal; when 
cold, mix in 180 parts of butter melted, and 125 parts of sugar. If 



The Housewife^ s Treasure. 15 

the phosphorus is in a finely-divided state, the ingredients may be 
all mixed at once, without melting them. This mixture will retain 
its efficacy for many years, for the phosphorus is preserved by the 
butter and only becomes oxidized on the surface. Rats and mice 
eat this mixture with avidity, after which they swell out and soon 
die. — 6. Cover the floor near their holes, with a thin layer of moist 
caustic potash. When the rats walk on this it makes their feet sore. 
These they lick with their tongues, which makes their mouths sore, 
and the result is that they not only shun this locality, but appear to 
tell all the neighboring rats about it, and eventually the house is 
entirely abandoned by them, nothwithstanding that the neighbor- 
hood may be teeming with them. — 7. Corks, cut as thin as wafers, 
roasted or stewed in grease, and placed in their tracks; or dried 
sponge in small pieces, fried or dipped in honey, with a little oil of 
rhodium, or bird-lime, laid in their haunts, will stick to their fur and 
cause their departure. If a live rat be caught, and well rubbed or 
brushed over with tar, and train-oil, and afterwards put to escape 
in the holes of others, they will disappear. 

How to wash Dishes. — First make sure before break- 
fast or dinner that there is plenty of water in the boiler, 
and also in the tea-kettle. After the table is cleared, the 
tablecloth brushed off and neatly folded away and the dining-room 
disposed of, proceed with your dishes. First take a large dish-pan, 
put into it a piece of soap, and pour over the soap three or four 
dipperfuls of hot water from the boiler. Then add 2 or 3 dipperfuls 
of cold soft water. Then the dish-cloth. The water should now be so 
cool as not to turn the hands red when put into it. Take the dish- 
cloth and rub from the soap the melted surface, and put the remain- 
der away. Wash a dish at a time and pass it to another pan. When 
all are done, or the pan is full, take the tea-kettle and pour over 
enough hot water to thoroughly rinse and heat them. Now take 
them from the water, one at a time, and place them bottom-side up 
upon a tray or pan to drain. If they have been properly washed, 
this hot rinsing water will run off or evaporate in a minute, leaving 
the dishes nearly dry. However, they should now be wiped with a 
clean, dry towel, and put away. JDishes must be washed in 
soft water. Especially is this necessary where soap is used. And 
soap is really indispensable in washing dishes properly. The dishes 
should be scraped free from grease, crumbs, bones, etc., before 
commencing to wash them. A neat house-keeper will have the 
same dish-cloth in use until it is worn out, when it should be put 
into the ragbag. Never allow the dish-cloth to be used for anything 
else but washing dishes. 

Teast. — I. In 2 quarts of water let 2 oz. of hops boil for ^ an 



1 6 The Housewife' s Treasure. 

hour; strain the Hquor, and let it stand in a wide earthenware bowl. 
When lukewarm add a small quantity of salt — say ^ handful — and 
1/ of a ib. of sugar. Take some of the liquor, and well mix up in 
it ^ a ib. of the best flour, beating this up thoroughly to the whole 
afterwards. The next day but one put in i ^ ib. of boiled and mashed 
potatoes; let it stand one more day, after which it may be bottled 
for use. It should be kept near the fire while making, so as to keep 
it about the temperature of new milk, and it should also be frequently 
stirred during the process of making. When bottled, it should be 
kept in a cool place. — 2. Take 1 2 large potatoes, a pint of hops boiled 
in a gallon of water; mash the potatoes well, add a teacupful of 
sugar and one of salt, and i pint of yeast. Let it rise a day, then 
put it into a jug and cork it loosely; put about yi a pint to a gallon 
of bread-raising. — 3. Boil i ib. of good flour, a ^ of a ib. of brown 
sugar, and a little salt, in 2 gallons of water for an hour. When 
milk warm, bottle it and cork close. It will be fit for use in 24 hours. 
I pint of the yeast will make 1 8 lbs. of bread. 

Yeast Cakes. — Put into 3 pints of water a handful of hops, 
and nearly a quart of pared potatoes, cut into small pieces. Boil for 
^ an hour, and strain, while scalding hot, into sufficient flour to 
make a stiff batter. Stir it well, adding one tablespoonful of fresh 
yeast, and set in a warm place to rise. When light, mix it stiff with 
Indian meal, roll out thin, and cut into round cakes or square 
pieces about 25^ inches in diameter. Dry these thoroughly, and 
keep them in a bag in a dry place. They will remain good for months. 

General Antidotes and rules to be observed In 
accidental Poisoning^. — The first thing to be done, when a 
person has swallowed a poison of any kind, is to empty the stomach, 
by taking a teaspoonful of common salt and the same quantity of 
ground mustard stirred rapidly in a teacup of water, warm or cold, 
and swallowed instantly. Next give water to drink, cold or warm, 
as fast as possible, a quart or more at a time, and as fast as vomited 
drink more; tepid water is best, as it opens the pores of the skin, 
and thus gives the speediest cure to the poisonous article. If pains 
begin to be felt in the bowels, it shows that part at least of the 
poison has passed downwards* then large and repeated injections of 
tepid water should be given, the object in both cases being to dilute 
the poison as quickly and as largely as possible. Do not wait for 
warm water — take that which is nearest at hand, cold or warm, for 
every second of time saved is of immense importance. It has been 
found that there is hardly any poison which, being diluted in a suffi- 
cient quantity with water, may not prove inoffensive. This virtue, 
coupled with its universal availability, makes it a valuable remedial 
agent in poisoning. 



TJie Housewife's Treasure. 17 

To £xtm^iii!Sih Fire m a chiiiiney. — One of the sim- 
plest methods is to scatter a handful oi flowers of sulphur over the 
dullest part of the burning coals, the mephitic vapors arising from 
which will not support combustion, and consequently extinguish 
the flames. Another method is to shut the doors and windows, and 
to stop up the bottom of the chimney with a piece of wet carpet or 
blanket, throwing a little water or flowers of sulphur, or salt, on the 
fire immediately before doing so. By this means the draught is 
stopped, and the burning soot must be extinguished for want of air. 
If the chimney be stopped at the top, instead of the bottom, the 
whole of the smoke must, of course, be driven into the apartment. 
If every fireplace were provided with a damper, or shutter of sheet- 
iron or tin plate, sufficiently large to choke it thoroughly, fires in 
chimneys would become of little consequence, as it would only be 
necessary to apply this damper to put them out. 

To make Bread iritliOiiit Flour. — A Frenchman named 
Sezille has discovered a method of making bread from unground 
wheat, without first grinding and bolting it into flour. The making 
of bread by this new system is a three-fold process — namely, washing 
the wheat, fermentation, and the final admixture and flavoring. The 
grain is put in a vessel, covered with water, and stirred until the 
lighter grains and extraneous particles are either dissolved or 
left floating on the surface. The mass is then freed from the 
water, and put into a cylinder, like a nutmeg-grater, whose revolu- 
tions remove the outer skin of the grain. This is all that is really 
necessary to remove. Next, the wheat thus cleansed is immersed 
in twice its own weight of water, heated to 750, to which has been 
added i part of half- dry yeast, and 5 or 6 oz. of glucose to 200 parts 
of water. A days exposure to this bath secures the necessary degree 
of absorption and fermentation, and the color will also have been 
extracted from exterior surface of the grain. The water being then 
removed, the wheat will be not far from white in color. Next the 
stiffened mass is put through rollers, which mash it into a glutinous 
pulp, and mix regularly through the whole bulk all the remaining 
particles of skin or bran. The dough — for such it now is — is then 
put into a trough, flavored with salt which has been dissolved in 
water, and given an apportunity to absorb more water if necessary, 
ahd then thoroughly kneaded by hand. Nothing, now, is needed 
but to treat it just as flour-dough is treated, and, when sufficiently 
light, hand it over to the oven. It is claimed that by this process the 
eater secures the entire nutriment of the wheat, and that it produces 
^ more bread than under the present system. It is probable that 
the bread thus made will lack that whiteness which is so much 
sought after by modest housewives, but then the result will be most 



1 8 The Housewife's Treasure. 

nutritious. Owing, however, to the time consumed in preparing the 
grain for the oven, it is not hkely that this new process will for some 
time to come supersede the old fashioned method of setting a sponge 
over-night for the next day's baking. 

To Mend Crockery Ware. — Wash the vessel gently and 
thoroughly with soap and water and let it dry without wiping. The 
pieces should then be fitted together as soon as possible, and kept 
in their places by winding firmly over the bowl or dish a strong 
thread, or a piece of twine; put the broken article into a boiler, an 
inch or two larger each way, and fill them both with sweet, cold, 
skimmed milk; set the boiler over the fire, and boil for ten or fifteen 
minutes; take it off, and let it stand till quite cold, when the string, 
or twine, may be cut, and the article washed in warm water. 

To prevent liamp Chimneys Breaking-. — To prevent 
lamp glasses breaking by the sudden contact with heat, the best 
way is to cut or scratch the base of the glass with a glazier's diamond. 
Another method is to put the glasses into a saucepan of water and 
boil them. This seasons them. 

To prevent L<ainp!$ Smoking. — Soak the wick in strong 
vinegar, and dry it well before you use it; it will then burn both 
sweet and pleasant, and gives much satisfaction for the trifling trouble 
taken in preparing it. 

To Remove Iron Ruf^t. — Every particle of rust on iron 
may be removed by first softening it with petroleum, and, then 
rubbing well with coarse sand-paper. To paint iron, take lamp- 
black sufficient for two coats, and mix with equal quantities of Japan 
varnish and boiled linseed oil. 

To preserve Clothing and Furs trom Moths. — i. 

Procure shavings of cedar-wood, and enclose in muslin bags, which 
should be distributed freely among the clothes. — 2. Procure shavings 
of camphor- wood, and enlose in bags. — 3. Sprinkle pimento (allspice) 
berries among the clothes. — 4. Sprinkle the clothes with the seeds of 
the musk plant. — 5. An ounce of gum camphor and one of the 
powdered shell of red pepper are macerated in 8 ounces of strong 
alcohol for several days, then strained. With this tincture the furs 
or clothes are sprinkled over, and rolled up in sheets. — 6. Carefully 
shake and brush woolens early in the spring, so as to be certain that 
no eggs are in them; then sew them up in cotton or linen wrappers, 
putting a piece of camphor gum, tied up in a bit of muslin, into each 
bundle, or into the chests and closets where the articles are to lie. 
No moth will approach while the smell of the camphor continues. 
When the gum is evaporated, it must be renewed. Enclose them 
in a moth-proof box with camphor no matter whether made of white 



The Housewife's Treasure. 19 

paper or white pine, before any eggs are laid on them by early 
spring moths. The notion of having a trunk made of some particu- 
lar kind of wood for tliis purpose, is nonsense. Furs or woolens, 
put away in spring time, before moth eggs are laid, into boxes, 
trunks, drawers, or closets even, where moths cannot enter, will be 
safe from the ravages of mothworms, provided none were in them 
that were laid late in the autumn, for they are not of spontaneous 
production. 

To Destroy House Flies. — House flies are present just in 
proportion to the dirt and uncleanliness there is in a house. The 
cleaner the house and surrounding, the fewer flies there will be. — 

1. They may be efiectually destroyed by putting half a spoonful of 
black pepper in powder on a teaspoonful of brown sugar, and one 
teaspoonful of cream; mix therri well together and place them in a 
room where the flies are troublesome, and they will soon disappear. — 

2. The butchers of Geneva have, from time immemorial, prevented 
flies from approaching the meat which they expose for sale, by the 
use of laurel oil. This oil, the smell of which, although a little strong, 
is not very bffensive, drives away flies; and they dare not come 
near the walls or the wainscots which have been rubbed with it. — 

3. Flies are kept out of stables, (a place they propagate in great 
numbers) by using sawdust which is saturated with carbolic acid 
diluted — one part of acid to a hundred parts of water — the sawdust 
scattered about in stables keeps all flies away. A similar application 
of the acid ought to keep them from kitchens. 

To kill moths in Carpets. — Wring a coarse crash towel 
out of clear water, spread it smoothly on the carpet, iron it dry with 
a good hot iron, repeating . the operation on all parts of the carpet 
suspected of being infested with moths. No need to press hard, 
and neither the pile nor color of the carpet will be injured, and the 
moths will be destroyed by the heat and steam. 

To preserve Knives Irom Rust. — Never wrap them in 
woolen cloths. When they are not to be used for some time, have 
them made bright and perfectly dry; then take a soft rag, and rub 
each blade with dry wood ashes. — Wrap them closely in thick brown 
paper, and lay them in a drawer or dry closet. A set of elegant 
knives, used only on great occasions, were kept in this way for over 
a hundred years without a spot of rust. 

To prevent Ivory Knife Handles trom cracking:. — 
Never let knife-blades stand in hot water,as is sometimes done to make 
them wash easily. The heat expands the steel which runs up into 
the handle a very little, and this cracks the ivory. Knife-handles 
should never lie in water. A handsome knife, or one used for cook- 
ing, is soon spoiled in this way. 



20 The Housewife s Treasure. 

To Tasten liOOise Knire Handles. — The best cement for 
this purpose consist of one pound of colophony (purchasable at the 
druggist's) and eight ounces of sulphur, which are to be melted to- 
gether, and either kept in bars or reduced to powder. One part of 
the powder is to be mixed with half a part of iron filings, fine sand 
or brick dust, and the cavity of the handle is then to be filled with 
this mixture. The stem of the knife or fork is then firmly inserted 
and kept in position until the cement hardens. 

To Clean and Brig^hten Matting: and oil cloth. — 

Wash it twice during the summer with salt and water, say about a 
pint of salt, dissolved in half a pailful of warm, soft water, drying 
the matting quickly with a soft cloth. The salt will prevent it from 
turning yellow. Another plan is, after the oilcloth is scrubbed and 
dried, to rub it all over with a cloth dipped in milk. This will bring 
the colors out very bright. 

To prevent Rust in Tea-kettles. — Keep an oyster-shell 
in your tea-kettle. By attracting the stony particles, to itself, it 
will prevent the formation of a crust. 

To take Ink out of Boards.— Strong muriatic acid, or spir- 
its of salt,applied with a piece of cloth; afterwards well washed 
with water. 

Households Weig^hts and measures. — Wheat flour Aveighs 
one pound to a quart. Butter, when soft, one pound to a quart. 
Indian meal, one pound two ounces to a quart. Loaf sugar, broken, 
one pound to a quart. White sugar, powdered, one pound one 
ounce to a quart. Eggs, average size, ten to a pound. 

To Beniore Taste from ^""ew Wood. — New keg, churn, 
bucket, or other wooden vessel will generafUy communicate a disagree- 
able odor to anything that is put into it To prevent this inconvenience 
first scald the vessel with boiling water, letting the water remain in 
it till cold. Then dissolve some pearlash or soda in lukewarm water, 
adding a little bit of lime to it, and wash the inside of the vessel 
well with the solution. Afterward scald it M^ell with plain hot water, 
and rinse it with cold water before you use it. 

Care of Canaries. — i. Especial care must be taken to keep 
the canary thoroughly clean. For this purpose the cage should be 
strewed every morning with clean sand, or rather, fine gravel, for 
small pebbles are absolutely essential to life and health in cage birds; 
fresh water must be given every day, both for drinking and bathing; 
the latter being in a shallow vessel; and, during the moulting season, 
a small bit of iron should be put into the water for drinking. The 
food of a canary should consist principally of summer rape seed, 
that is, of those small brown rape-seeds which are obtained from 



TJie Housewife' s Treasure. 2 i 

plants sown in the spring, and which ripen during the summer; 
large and black rape-seeds, on the contrary, are produced by such 
plants as are sown in autumn, and reaped in spring. A little chick- 
weed in spring, lettuce-leaves in summer, and endive in autumn, 
with slices of sweet apple in winter, may be safely given, but bread 
and sugar ought to be generally avoided. Occasionally also, a few 
poppy or canary seeds, and a small quantity of bruised hemp-seed 
may be added, but the last very sparingly. Cleanliness, simple food 
and fresh but not cold air are essential to the well-being of a canary. 
During the winter, the cage should never be hung in a room with- 
out a fire, but even then, when the air is mild, and the sun 
shines bright, the little prisoner will be refreshed by having the 
window open. The cage should never be less then eight inches in 
diameter, and a foot high, with perches at different heights. 

To cleana Paint. — Provide a plate with some of the best 
whiting to be had, and have ready some clean warm water and a 
piece of flannel, which dip into the water and squeeze nearly dry; 
then take as much whiting as will adhere to it, apply it to the painted 
surface, when a little rubbing will instantly remove any dirt or grease. 
After which wash well with clean water, rubbing it dry with soft 
flannels. Paint thus cleaned looks as well as when first laid on, 
without any injury to the most delicate colors. It is far better than 
using soap, and does not require more than half the time and labor. 

To Destroy Cockroaches aocl Seatles. — i. Strew the 
roots of black hellebore, at night, in the places infested by these 
vermin, and they will be found in the morning dead, or dying. Black 
hellebore grows in marshy grounds, and may be had at the herb 
shops. — 2. Put about a quart of water sweetened with molasses in a 
tin wash basin or smooth glazed china bowl. Set it at evening in a 
place frequented by bugs. Around the basin put an old piece of 
carpet that the bugs can have easy access to the top. They will go 
down in the water and stay till you come. — 3. Take pulverized 
borax 4 parts, flour i part, mix intimately and distribute the mixture 
in cupboards which are frequented by the roaches, or blow it, by 
means of a bellows, into the holes or cracks that are infested by them. 
— 4. By scattering a handful of fresh cucumber parings about the 
house. — 5. Take carbonic acid and powdered camphor in equal 
parts; put them in a bottle; they will become fluid. With a painter's 
brush of the size called a sash-tool, put the mixture on the cracks 
or places where the roaches hide; they will come out at once. Then 
kill. — 6. Mix up a quantity of fresh burned plaster of paris (gypsum, 
such as is used for making molds and ornaments) with wheat flour 
and a little sugar, distribute on shallow plates and box board, and 
place it in the corners of the kitchen and pantry, where they fre- 



22 The Housewife' s Treasure. 

quent In the darkness they will feast themselves on it. Whether 
it interferes with the digestion or not, is difficult to ascertain, but 
after three or four night renewal of the preparation, no cockroaches 
will be found on the premises. 

Hinfi^ oil Marketing'. — The purchaser will do well to keep 
in view one or two simple rules. Whatever kind of provisions may be 
required, it is invariably the wisest course to deal with those trades- 
people who have a large business, and who are known and respect- 
able. It is the interest of such persons to supply their customers 
with the best articles, and for this purpose they themselves must go 
to the best markets. As a general rule they are under no tempta- 
tion to overcharge their customers. Their success in business and 
their profit depend on the number of their retail transactions, and 
if the number be great, they are all the more able to supply the best 
articles, and to be content with the smallest profits on each indivi- 
dual sale. As an illustration of this it may be stated that, with very 
few exceptions, all commodities are dearer, as well of inferior qual- 
ity, in shops in the suburbs than in those situated in places of the 
greatest concourse: the reason is that small dealers, who have com- 
paratively few transactions, must necessarily make up for the 
defects of their business by obtaining large profits on individual 
sales, while, at the same time, they have little or no encouragement 
to obtain the best goods, and in many cases want of sufijcient capi- 
tal renders this impracticable. It will be usually found, however, 
that there is no economy in purchasing inferior articles. In butcher's 
meat, for examples, the best meat, and the best parts of the meat, 
although at first a little dearer, are in reality cheaper in the end. 

To test Kerosene Oil. — ^The only reliable test is the tem- 
perature of the flashing point, that is, the temperature at which the 
petroleum takes fire when a burning match is applied to its surface. 
This test can be easily applied. Into a flat dish or saucer, pour the 
oil to be tried, until it is at least half an inch deep; then hold a burn- 
ing match or paper near the surface. At the point of contact the 
combustion is often very lively, as the taper draws up some of the 
liquid, but if the petroleum be safe and free from naphtha, the flame 
does not spread over the surface. If the petroleum has been adul- 
terated, as soon as the match touches the surface a blue lambent 
flame flashes accross it, and in a few moments the body of the oil 
will be on fire. Such an oil is dangerous — liable to explode in lamps, 
and to give of inflammable vapors at all times. Any oil which takes 
fire when a match is held near its surface, and continues to burn 
ought to be condemned at once and thrown into the streets. 

To make Umbrellas Ia§t liOng".— Most persons, when 
they come in from the rain, put their umbrellas in the rack with the 



The Housewife's Treasure. .23 

handle upward. They should put it downward; because when the 
handle is upward the water runs down inside to the place where the 
ribs are joined to the handle, and cannot get out, but stays rotting 
the cloth and rusting the metal until slowly dried away. • The wire 
securing the ribs soon rusts and breaks. If placed the other end up, 
the water readily runs off, and the umbrella dries almost immediately. 

To Kemove Grease spots. — Take benzine, 20 ounces; al- 
cohol (strong), 5 ounces; ether, 2 drachms; ammonia, i drachm. — 2. 
(Javclle water.) Take bleaching powder, i ounce; carbonate of 
potassa, I ounce; water, 33 ounces. Triturate the bleaching powder 
in the cold with 25 ounces of water, then add the carbonate of potassa, 
previously dissolved in the rest of the water, sliake well and let it 
settle. The supernatent liquor is filtered, if necessary, and mixed 
with one ounce of hydrochloric acid, when it is ready for use. 

To Banish and Destroy Ants. — i. Perfect cleanliness. — 
2. Pulverized borax sprinkled in places they frequent. — 3. A few 
leaves of green worm-wood, scattered among their haunts. — 4. The 
use of camphor. — 5. A sponge can be sprinkled with sugar and laid 
upon shelves when ants are numerous; the next morning plunge 
quickly into boiling water, and most of the intruders will be de- 
stroyed.^ — 6. Carbolic acid wiped around the edges of the shelves 
and wherever they seem to come from. 

To Exterminate Bed-Bii^s. — i. Perfect cleanliness. No 

bed-bugs or other vermin will infest a house, the mistress of which 
is of orderly and cleanly habits, and fine tastes. — 2. Two ounces of 
red arsenic, a ^ of a pound of white soap, yi an ounce of camphor 
dissolved in a teaspoonful of spirits rectified, made into a paste of 
the consistency of cream. Place this mixture in the openings and 
cracks of the beadstead. — 3. Where bed-bugs are present the best, 
quickest and handiest exterminator is kerosene or crude petroleum 
oil, drenching all parts of the article of furniture thoroughly and 
effectively. 

To get Rid of Fleas. — Much of the largest number of fleas 
are brought into our family circles by pet dogs and cats. The oil 
of pennyroyal will drive these insects off; but a cheaper method, 
where the herb flourishes, is to throw your cats and dogs into a 
decoction of it once a week. When the herb cannot be got, the oil 
can be procured. In this case, saturate strings with it and tie them 
around the necks of dogs and cats. These applications should be 
repeated every twelve or fifteen days. Mint, freshly cut. and hung 
round a beadstead, or on the furniture, will prevent annoyance from 
bed insects ; a few drops of essential oil of lavender will be more 
efficacious. 



24 TJie Housewife's Treasure. 

To Prevent ITIould in Ink. — The microscope has revealed 
the fact that mould is a plant, propagated like other plants; and any- 
thing that will kill vegetation will prevent ink or any other mould. 
The common remedies applied for this purpose are, creosote, carbolic 
acid, oil of cloves, bergamot, or many other ethereal oils, acetic acid, 
alcohol, corrosive sublimate, arsenic, etc.; but always added in com- 
paratively small quantities. 

How to liWy Carpets. — Cover the floor with thick brown 
paper, which is sold in large rolls for the purpose; have the carpet 
properly fitted, and, on the binding of the edges, sew at regular 
distances small brass rings in such a manner that when the carpet is 
laid they will not appear beyond the edges. Round the side of the 
room drive medium-sized brass-headed nails, at the same distances 
from each other as the rings are sewed on the carpet; when ready, 
begin at the top of the room and hook the rings over the brass- 
headed nails, which must be driven into the floor far enough to ad- 
mit of the rings catching a firm hold. When the top is hooked on, 
stretch the carpet to the opposite side and hook it on, then fasten 
the sides in like manner. This is much less troublesome and is more 
economical than nailing down carpets. 

To snake ^tair Carpets E(ast. — Slips of paper should 
always be, placed over the edges of the stairs, under the carpet. 
This will diminish the friction between the carpet and the boards 
underneath it. The strips should be in length within an inch or 
two of the width of the carpet, and four or five inches in breadth, 
as convenient. This simple expedient will preserve the carpet half 
as long again as it would last without the strips. 

To prevent Files from Injasring^ PictHrc Frames. 
— Boil three or four onions in a pint of water: then with a gilding 
brush do over your glasses and frames, and the flies will not alight 
on the article so washed. This may be used without apprehension, 
as it will not do the least injury to the frames. 

Mo^w \q cflean Tin. — Never use lye to clean tin, it will soon 
spoil it. Make it clean with suds, and rub it with whiting, and it 
will look well, and last much longer. 

no^v to Bnend Tin Pans. — This can be done quickly and 
easily by the use of putty, and is much better than to throw them 
away. Put it on the outside; let it dry thoroughly, and they will 
never need mending in the same place again. 

To Meniove Stains troin Books. — To remove ink stains 

from a book, first wash the paper with warm water, using a camel's 

hair brush for the purpose. By this means the surface ink is got 

j rid of; the paper must now be wet with a solution of oxalate of 



TJlc Housewife' s Treasure. 25 

potash, or, better still, oxalic acid in the proportion of one ounce to half 
a pint of water. The ink stains will immediately disappear. Finally, 
again Avash the stained place with clean water, and dry it with white 
blotting paper. 

To cleani ]?Iarl>le. — i. Brush the dust off the piece to 
be cleaned, then apply with a brush a good coat of gum arabic, 
about the consistency of a thick office mucilage, expose it to 
the sun or dry wind, or both. In a short time it will crack 
and peel off. If all the gum should not peel off, wash it with clean 
water and a clean cloth. Of course, if the first application does 
not have desired effect, it should be applied again. — 2. Make a paste 
with soft soap and whiting. Wash the marble first with it, and then 
leave a coat of the paste upon it for two or three days. Afterwards 
wash off with warm (not hot) water and soap. — 3. Chalk (in fine 
powder), i part; pumice, i part; common soda, 2 parts. Mix. 
Wash the spots with this powder, mixed Avith a little water, then 
clean the Avhole of the stone, and wash off with soap and water. 

To cleaiQ Silver Ornaments. — Boil them in soap and water 
for five minutes; then put them in a basin with the same hot soap and 
water, and scrub them gently with a very soft brush while hot; then 
rinse and dry with a linen rag. Heat a piece of common unglazed 
earthen ware, or a piece of brick or tile in the fire; take it off, and 
place the. ornaments upon it for the purpose of drying them, and 
causing every particle of moisture to evaporate; as the moisture, 
which otherwise would remain on the silver, will cause it to tarnish, 
or assume a greenish hue. All ornaments, whether gold or silver, 
can be kept from tarnishing if they are carefully covered from the 
air in boxwood sawdust, which will also dry them after being washed. 
To prevcBBt ISools sqineakins". — Squeaking boots and shoes 
are a great annoyance, especially in entering a sick room, or a church 
after the service has commenced. To remedy it, boil linseed oil and 
saturate the soles with the same. 

House cleaiiiaig'. — In cleaning a room, the carpet should 
come up first, not only because of the dust, but to give the floor all 
day to dry, not leaving it to be scrubbed last, as we have seen 
some bad managers do, and pay for it by influenzas. Where the 
walls are papered, they should next be swept with a clean towel 
pinned firmly round a broom, if there is not a brush kept for 
the purpose. The ceilings of chambers are usually whitewashed; 
this is the next proceeding; and the walls scrubbed, if painted or 
hard finished. Then come windows and wood-work, in all things 
being careful to use as little slop as will thoroughly answer the pur- 
pose. In cleaning wood-work, use little soap, but plenty of clean 
water, which will prevent discoloration. If dirty spots and patches 



26 The Housewife s Treasure. 

are wiped off the year round, faithfully, there will bo much less need 
of scrubbing the boards bare in "house cleaning." 

To Scour Floors.— Take some clean, well-sifted sand, 
scatter it on the floor, have ready one ounce of potash dissolved in 
a pint of water, sprinkle it over the sand, and with a scrubbing brush 
and good mottled soap rub the boards along their length. Chang- 
ing the water frequently and using it very hot, make the boards 
white; the potash, if properly applied, will remove all stains. 

To clean liOoMii^ CJlasses. — Take a newspaper, or part 
of one, according to the size of the glass. Fold it small, and dip it 
into a basin of clean cold water; when thoroughly wet, squeeze it 
out in your hand as you would a sponge, and then rub it hard all 
over the face of the glass, taking care that it is not so wet as to run 
down in streams. In fact, the paper must only be complete moistened, 
or damped all through. After the glass has been well rubbed with 
a wet paper, let it rest a few minutes, and then go over it with a 
fresh dry newspaper (folded small in your hand) till it looks clear and 
bright — which it will almost immediately, and with no further trouble. 
This method, simple as it is, is the best and most expeditious for 
cleaning mirrors, and it will be found so on trial — giving it a clear- 
ness and polish that can be produced by no other process. It is 
equally convenient, speedy, and effective. The inside of the win- 
dow frames may be cleaned in this manner to look beautifully clear; 
the windows being first washed on the outside. , 

Ho'wr to ira^h Crraining:. — Take clear warm water, a 
clean, white cloth, and wash a small place and wipe dry with another 
clean white cloth. Do not wet any more space than you can dry 
immediately with your cloth as it must not be left to dry in the 
atmosphere; it must be rubbed dry, hence the necessity for clean 
white cloths. If the paint has been neglected until very much soil- 
ed with greasy fingers, or specked with a summers growth of flies, 
a very little hard soap may be put in the first water, and then rinsed 
off with clear water, but avoid soap if you possibly can, as it dulls 
the varnish, however carefully used. On no account must it be rub- 
bed on with a cloth. 

To prepare Sheep SIoei for Mats. — Make a strong lather 
with hot water, and let it stand till cold ; wash the fresh skin in it, 
carefully squeezing out all the dirt, from the wool; wash it in cold 
water till all the soap is taken out. Dissolve a pound each of salt 
and alum in two gallons of hot water, and put the skin into a tub 
sufficient to cover it; let it soak for twelve hours and hang it over a 
pole to drain. When well drained, stretch it carefully on a board to 
dry, and stretch several times while drying. Before it is quite dry, 
sprinkle on the flesh side one ounce each oi finely pulverized alum 



The Housewife' s Treasure. 27 

and salpetre, rubbing it in weU. Try if the wool be firm on the 
skin; if not, let it remain a day or two, then rub again with alum; 
fold the flesh sides together and hang in the shade for two or three 
days, turning them over each day till quite dry. Scrape the flesh 
side with a blunt knife, and rub it with pumice or rotten stone. 

Hoiv to clioo^e a House in Renting^. — ^The choice of a 
house is in importance second only to the selection of a friend. The 
best residence is one which is not inconveniently distant from your 
place of business — is in a cheerful and healthy locality, and of which the 
rent, including rates, and taxes, does not exceed one-sixth of your in- 
come. Do not choose a neighborhood merely because it is fashionable, 
and carefully avoid occupying a dwelling in a locality of doubtfully 
reputation. Be particular as to whether it is dry, with convenient 
sewage and plenty of water. A southern or western aspect is to 
be preferred. Should the house be infested with vermin avoid it. 
See that the windows and doors are well secured, that there are 
proper means of ventilation, and that the chimneys do not smoke. 
Let all needful repairs be made by the landlord before the com- 
pletion of your agreement, otherwise you will probably be required 
to execute them at your own expense. Do not deal with a landlord 
who is commonly reputed as being disobliging, greedy, or litigious. 
In every case have a lease properly drawn out and stamped. Avoid 
the neighborhood of a sluggish stream, a mill-dam, or fresh-water 
Lake. The penalties are rheumatism, ague, impaired eyesight, loss 
of appetite, asthma and other distressing ailments. Choose a house 
away from the vicinity of tan-yards, and tallow, soap, ?ind chemical 
works. The neighborhood of old and crowded burial-grounds and 
of slaughterhouses is to be shunned. A low situation is perilous, 
especially, during the prevalence of epidemics. Never lease a house 
in a narrow street, unless the back premises are open and extensive. 
Before closing your bargain try to obtain some account of the house 
from a former occupant. 

Caution in visiting' iSick-Room. — Never venture into a 
sick-room in a violent perspiration (if circumstances requireacontinu- 
ance there for any time), for the moment the body becomes cold, it is 
in a state likely to absorb the infection, and receive the disease. Nor 
visit a sick person (especially if the complaint be of a contagious 
nature), with an empty stomach; as this disposes the system more 
readily to receive the infection. In attending a sick person, stand 
where the air passes from the door or window to the bed of the 
diseased, not betwixt the diseased person and any fire that is in the 
room, as the heat of the fire will draw the infectious vapor in that 
direction, and much danger would arise from breathing in it. Do 
not enter the room the first thing in the morning before it has been 



28 The Housewife' s Treasure. 

aired; and when you come away, take some food, change your 
clothing immediately, and expose the latter to the air for some days_ 

To soften Putty ivheii hard. — Break the putty in lumps of 
the size of a hen's &^^, add a small portion of linseed oil, and water 
sufficient to cover the putty; boil this in an iron vessel for about ten 
minutes, and stir it when hot. The oil will mix with the putty. 
Then pour the water off, and it will be like fresh made. For remov- 
ing hard putty from a window-sash, take a square piece of iron, 
make the same red hot, and run it along the putty till it gets soft. 
The putty will peel off without injuring the wood work. Concen- 
trated lye, made of lime and alkali, will effect the wood and make it 
rot quicker. 

To clean €rlas^ Olobes. — If the globes are much stained on 
the outside by smoke, soak them in tolerable hot water with a little 
washing soda, dissolved in it, then put a teaspoonful of powdered 
ammonia into a pan of lukewarm water, and with a tolerably hard 
brush wash the globes till the smoke stain disappears; rinse in clean 
cold water, and let them drain till dry; they will be quite as white 
and clear as new globes. 

To RemoTe Orease from Stoneis, l§teps or Passag'es. 
— Pour strong soda and water boiling hot over the spot, lay on it 
a little fuUer's-earth made into a thin paste with boiling water, let it 
remain all night, and if the grease be not removed, repeat the pro- 
cess. Grease is sometimes taken out by rubbing the spot with a 
hard stone (not hearthstone), using sand and very hot water with 
soap and soda. 

To make Cider Vme§"ar. — i. The most profitable return 
from such apples as are made into cider is the further transformation 
of the juice into vinegar. To do this, the barrels should be com- 
pletely filled, so that all impurities that "working" — fermenting — 
throws off will be ejected through the bung-hole. This process 
should be completed before the barrel is put in the cellar, and when 
this is done, the purified juice should be drawn out of the original' 
cask and put into others where there is a small amount of old vine- 
gar, which will amazingly hasten the desired result. If no vinegar 
can be obtained to "start" the cider, it must remain in a dry cellar 
six months, and perhaps a year (the longer the better), before it will 
be fit for the table. 

To make Wicks for Candles. — Of late years the best 
candles are made in such manner that they do not require snuffing. 
The simplest way of effecting this is to make the wick with one strand 
of loosely twisted cotton, which will become slightly stretched when 
the wick is placed in the candle, but will contract again on its burn- 
ing, removing the force that kept it extended. If this roving be 



The Housewife^ s Treasure. 29 

placed at the outside of the wick, it is evident that when it contracts, 
it will pull the latter into a curved shape, and thus expose its up- 
per part to the outer portion of the flame, as will be consumed with 
sufficient rapidity to prevent the necessity of using the snuffers. The 
same may be effected by placing the candle at an angle of about 
45°, by which means the upper part of the wick will be out of the 
flame; but this plan, besides being tmsightly, is liable to the risk of 
the tallow, dropping beyond the candle-stick. Platted wicks, so ar- 
ranged that one portion shall be stretched more than another, have 
long been adopted for the same purpose. 

To make ^oap l>y the Cold way, — The fat is melted at a 
low heat, not warmer than blood heat, and the lye gradually added 
— 40 ibs. of strong lye (about 36°, Beaume) to 80 fbs. of fat, and 
less, even should the lye be stronger still. The lye should be per- 
fectly clear, and no more than tepid in temperature. The fat and 
the lye should be persistently stirred with a board or wooden spatula, 
having sharp edges at its lower end, and rounded at its upper, for 
easy handling. The paddling should be kept up until a ring drawn 
with the spatula remains visible a short time. It is at that point 
that the coloring matters and perfumes are added, if any are want- 
ed. The parts should then be run into frames, previously lined with 
muslin so carefully that no folds be formed at the edges of the box. 
Each frame should be entirely filled with thi soap, and well closed, 
with the margin of the muslin, and also fitted with a modern cover. 
The whole should be left for about one day to rest in a mild tem- 
perature, the complete change or saponification completing itself jn 
the frames, where the temperature rises spontaneously to sometimes 
over 175° F. Under the influence of this action the various consti- 
tuent principles in the mass, including the glycerine, become further 
combined, and a soap produced almost resembling that of boiled 
soaps. At the expiration of twenty-four hours the soap may be 
taken up from the frames, and cut up in bars to dry. Sometimes, 
especially when mutton tallow is mostly employed with soda for the 
lye, one-tenth of potash is added, to diminish the hardness of the 
soap; at the same time it increases its solubility and quality, the soap 
resulting from that addition not being brittle when dry, as it would 
be when exclusively made of hard tallow and soda lye. The yield 
of such soap is about 150 lbs. to 100 ibs. of fat. 

'Waf^liiilg^ Ffimds. — i. Take one pound of sal soda and half a 
pound of unslaked lime, put them into a gallon of water and boil 
twenty minutes; let it stand till cool, then drain off and put into a 
strong jar or jug; soak your dirty clothes over night, or until they 
are wet through, then wring them out and rub on plenty of soap, 
and in one boiler of clothes, well covered with water, add one tea- 



30 The Housewife's Treasure. 

cupful of fluid; boil half an hour briskly, and then wash them 
thoroughly through one suds, rinse, and your clothes will look better 
than the old way of washing twice before boiling. — 2. Five pounds 
of sal soda, one pound of borax, one pound of unslaked lime. Dis- 
solve the soda and borax in one gallon of boiling water; slake the 
lime in the same quantity of boiling water; then pour them both 
into eight gallons of cold water; stir a few times and let it stand un- 
til morning, when the clear fluid should be poured off into jars, ready 
for use. For two pails full of water use half a pint of the compound. 
Soak your clothes over night, putting soap on the soiled parts. In 
the morning wring them out and put them on to boil, first putting 
some of the fluid and soap into the boiler. After boiling ten or 
twelve minutes, take them out into your machine or tub and the 
dirt will rub right off; then rinse well in two waters. — 3. One and 
one quarter pound of washing soda, ^ pound borax, and dissolve 
in 4 quarts of water by boiling. When the mixture is cold add 
about one half a teacupfull of water of ammonia (hartshorn), and 
bottle for use, taking care to keep the fluid corked from the air. 
For use take a cupful to a pailful of water. — 4. Sal soda and borax, 
y^ ib. each; gum camphor, i oz.; alcohol, ^ pint. Dissolve the 
soda and borax in one gallon of boiling rain water, pour in two gal- 
lons of cold rain water, add the camphor first dissolved in the alcohol, 
stir well and bottle for use. Four tablespoonfuls of the preparation 
are to be mixed with a pint of soft soap, and the clothes boiled in a 
suds made of this. It is all the better if the clothes are soaked over 
night, before putting them into the suds. — 5. Soak your clothes over 
night in a clear, cold water; in the morning have over the fire what 
water is necessary to boil them in, add one tablespoonful of saleratus, 
one pint of soft soap, or one quarter of a bar of hard soap, wring or 
drain your clothes from the water in which they have stood over 
night, put them in your boiler, boil three quarters of an hour, when 
they will need but little rubbing, rinse, and your clothes will be 
beautifully white. Your suds will be excellent for washing colored 
clothing of all kinds, as it does not injure the nicest prints. One 
pound of saleratus will do twenty washings for any common family. 

Care of Beds. — ^The care of beds is not tmderstood, even 
by some good housewives; when abed is freshly made it often smells 
strong. Constant airing will, if the feathers are good, and only new, 
remove the scent. A bed in constant use should be invariably 
beaten and shaken up daily, to enable the feathers to renew their 
elasticity. It should lie, after it is shaken up, for two or three hours 
in a well-ventilated room. If the bed is in a room which cannot be 
spared so long, it should be put out to air two full days of the week. 
In airing beds the sun should not shine directly upon them. It is 



The Housewife^ s Treasure. 31 

air, not heat, which they need. We have seen beds lying on a roof 
where the direct and reflected rays of the sun had full power, and the 
feathers, without doubt, were stewing, and the oil in the quill be- 
coming rancid, so that the bed smells worse after airing than before. 
Always air beds in the shade on cool and windy days. Featherbeds 
should be opened every three or four years, the ticks washed, the 
seams soaped and waxed, and the feathers renovated. Feathers 
were never intended for human beings to sleep on. They are 
always without exception debilitating. Straw, corn husks, com- 
pressed sponge, or curled hair, should always be used in pre- 
ference. 

To choose Carpets. — ^The carpet ought to assimilate with 
the style of the paperhangings, but the quality of the material must 
depend on the capability of the purchaser's pocket In carpets, as 
in many other things, the dearest articles are generally the cheapest 
in the end. In illustration of this we may state the carpet in our 

dining-room cost a yard, and although it has been in daily use 

lor four years it looks as well as ever. For dining and drawing rooms 
Brussels carpets are the best. If the room are small choose small pat- 
terns with few colors, or of a pattern formed of shades of the same 
'color as the ground, such as a green carpet with mosses or small 
ferns in various shades of green, or a carpet with an indistinct pat- 
tern of ribbons or arabesques of a small size. When there is nothing 
very decided to attract the eye, the defects of wear are not so ob- 
vious. Stair carpets are also best of Brussels make; crimson wears 
longest; they must be of a pattern that will admit of being turned 
upside down, as it is a good plan frequently to change the position 
of the carpet, that the edge of each step may not always come in 
the same spot, which would soon wear the fabric, A small gay 
pattern of crimson or oak colors wears best; avoid blues or lilacs or 
shades of stone colors: the two former fade quickly, and the latter 
always looks dirty. 

Mopping^ and Cleaning: Floors. — The practice of mop- 
ping floors to often, is a loss of time, and a waste of strength, and 
is as inconsistent with reason, as the habit of blacking cooking stoves 
every time they are used; and I am not sure but wet floors are as 
detrimental to health as the dust sent forth by the too frequent use of 
the common stove blacking. Mopping painted floors too often, and 
with hot soapsuds, wears off the paint, causing needless expense of 
both time and money. It is difficult to say, how often a painted, or 
an unpainted floor should be washed, for that depends on cir- 
cumstances; but it requires that the cloth, mop and water, should, 
be as clean as a supply of the latter will admit, and the floor wiped 
as dry as possible; and that every corner, and other retired spots, 



22 The Housewife s Treasure. 

under beds, bureaus, or any other article which may be in the apart- 
ments, should have a fair chance to partake of the cleansing. 

To keep Silver Brigrht. — For the preservation of the luster 
of articles of silver or plated ware, when not needed for actual use 
for a considerable time, a coating of collodion (to be had at the drug 
store), may be employed to great advantage. The articles are to be 
heated, and the collodion then carefully applied by means of a brush, 
so as to cover the surface thoroughly and uniformly. It is used 
most conveniently when diluted with alcohol, as for photographic 
purposes. Articles thus prepared exhibit no trace whatever of their 
covering, and have stood for more than a year in shop windows and 
in dwellings, retaining their white luster and color, while other 
pieces not thus prepared became seriously tarnished. 

To clean Knives. — i. Cut a good-sized solid, raw potato 
in two; dip the flat surface in powdered brick-dust, and rub the knife- 
blades. Stains and rust will disappear. — 2. One of the best sub- 
stances for cleaning knives and forks is charcoal, reduced to a fine 
powder, and applied in the same manner as brick-dust is used. — 3. 
Water lime is also used for this purpose. Have a box with a par- 
tition and keep the lime in one part and the cloths in the other. Wet 
a small cloth a little and dip it in the lime, and after the articles are 
well washed and wiped, rub them until the spots are removed. 
Then take a larger, dry cloth, dip it in the lime, and rub the articles 
until polished to suit. Wipe off the dust from .the knives and forks 
with a dry cloth, and they are ready to put away. 

Mow to test Water. — Mechanical impurities in water are 
removed only by filtration; chemical impurities cannot be removed 
in this manner. If lime is supposed to be present in water, the best 
test is to mix with it a small quantity of oxalic acid in a small ves- 
sel; lime, if present, will be revealed in a white precipitate. Car- 
bonate of iron is best detected by the tincture of galls, which produces 
a black precipitate. If the penknife, dipped in water, assumes a 
yellowish coating, copper is present. The best method of detecting 
the presence of vegetable and animal matter is by dropping into 
it a small quantity of sulphuric acid ; the water becomes black. 

To inend china and Glassivare. — A useful cement is pro- 
duced by powdered chalk and white of egg. A mixture of equal 
parts of white of egg, white lead, and glue forms a strong cement; 
or take a very thick solution of gum arable in water, and stir into it 
plaster of Paris until the mixture becomes a viscous paste. Apply 
it with a brush to the fractured edges, and stick them together. 
In three days the article caimot again be broken in the same place. 



ADVERTISEMENTS. 




^Jf Ask the first Agent you meet to show yoic a copy of this book. 

THE SCIENCE OF A NEW LIFE. 

By JOHN COWAN, M. D. 

Is the name of a new Physiological work, of Standard and Permanent value, for which we 
desire active and experienced Agents in every Town and County in the United States and 
Dominion of Canada. The book is one that should be possessed by every man and woman 
in the land, and to this end it will be our endeavour, to circulate it very extensively. In fact 
we have set out with the firm determination to sell 

HALF A MILLION COPIES, 

And we will do it, for we never yet failed to carry out a possible purpose once formed. This 
immense circulation will require the services of an army of enterprising and pushing Agents, 
and if the reader is so situated as to accept an agency, or knows of a capable person who will 
do so, we will be pleased to have him write us for our Conditions, which contain better terms 
than any other Publisher allows. The business requires but little capital, and is attended with 
absolutely no risk. We have Agents who are making from $30 to $60 a week, clear of all 
expenses, according to their experience, ability, energy in canvassing, &c. : Writes an Agent 
from Ohio : 

Sirs: — I enclose $ — for ten Copies of "The Science of a New Life." I got the book and 
"outfit" this noon, and went out the same evening canvassing. I was out an hour, and got 
elevea names. I think if I do as well every day, you will have no cause to complain; &c., &c. 

E. W. ALLEN. 
Another Agent in Va. writes thus : 

Gents : — Please excuse me for not reporting sooner; I did not think it was necessary to 
report so often. Yet I have not been idle. I have c.invassed about half of the territory you 
assigned .ne, and hav^ got, up to this date, three hundred and thirty-six (336) good and 
responsible subscribers. I took your plan for it, not to pass a house without calling. I 
think it best to get partly through canvassing before I deliver any of the books. I think I 
can get through by the first of March, at any rate I have agreed to deliver them between 
the first of March and the first of April ; I hope by that time to have five or six hundred sub- 
scribers. I shall, in future, report oftener. The ten copies I sent to you for shortly after 
receiving my outfit was to supply some of my subscribers that were moving west. You 
seem to think this is a hard work to sell, but I beg to differ ; &c., &c. 

Yours very truly, A. R. SMITH. 

We have a lady .\gent in Maine, who at this date of writinghas cleared over three hundred 
dollars in two months canvassing. Of course, she sells, or solicits subscriptions only from those 
of her own sex. 

In canvassing for THE SCIENCE OF A NEW LIFE, there is no competition ; we 
allow exclusive territory to .^.gents, and with the instructions we give, coupled with energy and 
perseverance, they cannot help making money. 

^p^ For Prices and Conditions see next page. 



PRICES AND CONDITIONS: 
The "SCIENCE OF A NEW LIFE", is printed from beautiful clear new type, on fine 
talendered paper, tinted, in one volume of over 400 large octavo pages, loo first-class engravings, 
with a fine steel engraved frontispiece of the author. 

It is issued in three different styles of binding, (the same also in German), 

English cloth, beveled boards, gilt back, and side stamp, . . $3.00 

Leather, sprinkled edges, ... - $3- 50 

Half Turkey morocco, marbled edges, gilt leather back, etc., . $4.00 
E^ On receipt of any of these prices, the book securely enveloped, will be sent by mail, 
with the postage fully prepaid. 

1^^ Purchasers will please note that "The Science of a New Life" is not sold in the 
bookstores, but only by our duly authorized canvassing Agents, and by the Puljlishers, to 
whom orders should be adressed when it is not convenient to secure a copy from one of 
our Agents. 

Ey To avoid all possible danger of loss, money should be sent only in a registered letter, 
or by a post-office money order ; when sent otherwise, it is entirely at the risk of the 
sender. 

^W In no instance is a single copy of the book sold for less than the retail price. We 
mention this, because many sent for our confidential circulars, with the purpose of getting a 
copy at agents prices, whereas the Agent himself has to pay full price for the first copy besides 
an additional sum for the "outfit". Don't send for a Confidential Circular unless you realy 
desire an Agency. 

Address all orders to COWAN & CO., Reform Book Publishers, 

139 Eighth St., M-ro York. 



Be siwe to ask the first Agent you see to shota you a Copy. 



NO BETTER INVESTMENT. 

Invest ten thousand dollars at interest, and it will not return you the same sterling value 
that ONLY three dollars invested in a copy of "The Science of a New Life" will. Why? 
Simply because, perfect health, bounding strength, a long life, and unalloyed happiness are of 
infinitely greater value than dollars and cents, and these desirable requirements are contained 
in Dr. Cowan's Book. 

A Wife and Mother thus writes to the publishers : 
* * * I can spend my time in no better way than canvassing for such a book. I have a copy 
of it — have read and re-read it. O if I had only had it two years earlier, the tears it might 
have saved me. Would that I could be an aid to put it into the hands of every man and woman 
in the land. God will certainly bless you in your earnest endeavours to rescue mankind from 
the depths of the darkness into which they have been plunged. 

An Agent who has sold over a thousand Copies of the work writes : My opinion of the 
book is — the world wants it, the present state of humanity demands it. Nor can the physical 
and moral condition of the world be improved until humanity feels their need for this book. 

A gentleman who for thirty years has been a minister and for 20 years a physican writes 
thus : While recently over in Oregon, I providentially saw for the first time a copy of your 
valuable, because much needed work "The Science of a New Life," I had not read an hour in 
it until satisfied it was the book of all others this generation most needed. For thirty years I 
have seen a need for this work, and have hoped someone of sufficient information, standing and 
talent would produce it. I have purchased and read the Copy alluded to, and find it more than 
meets my highest expectation of moral and scientific worth. * * * * Wishing to be as useful to 
my fellow creatures as possible, I have resolved to write out a few lectures from it, and deliver 
them to the public as I travel through this territory. Of course I will give you credit for the 
subject matter and recommend the work. 



|^P° The careful reading of the following pages, will give a fust idea of zuhat merit 
the book contains. 



The ancients were ever longing and searching for an Elixir Pltcc, the Water of Life, a 
draft of which would enable them to five for ever. The pages of "The Science of a New Life," 
will furnish you a better elixir than the ancients ever dreamed of in their wildest flights of 
imagination, for, though it will not enable you to live for ever, yet its pages contain information 
that if heeded and obeyed, will endow you with such a measure of health, strength, purity of 
body and mind and intense happiness as to make you the envied of mankind, a man among men, 
a woman among women. 



THE SCIENCE OF A NEW LIFE, 

By JOHN COWAN, M. D. 

HINKING and reflecting persons must allow that we 
as men and women are just as our parents made us. 
That all our irregularities of mind and disposition, 
our infirmities of soul and body, have been trans- 
mitted and bequeathed to us by those who gave us 
birth; and that one of the objects in living on this 
earth is — in those who live rightly — to overcome the 
crooked and bad that we were endowed with. 
This being so, any information that throws light on 
this immensely important subject should be wel- 
comed with unbounded delight. This "The Sci- 
ence of a New Life" professes to do — in a plain, 
understandable manner — with great earnestness of 
purpose, with undoubted purity of motive, with a 
spirit that breathes a reverence for God's greatest 
handiwork — man, indicating how, by and through 
the observance of given laws, a clean, sweet, healthy 
and talented reproduction may result, and perfection, 
on this earth therefore be possible of attainment. 
It also gives all necessary suggestions in the right 
choosing of husbands and wives, so that harmony 
and happiness will result, and discord and divorces 
be avoided. 

'^ Especially does it advocate and encourage in man 

and woman continence, purity of thought and asso- 
ciation, ^nd all that socially ennobles and elevates — leading the soul out of the filth and 
slough of sensuality up into the charmed and lovable atmosphere that encircles those who 
are chaste and pure in thought, word, and deed. 

AUogether it aims in a systematic manner to cover the whole ground of human social life 
bounded by the entrance into the marriage state and the birth of a new life — with the inter- 
mediate results of wrong-doing, and their indications, causes, and remedies. 

Some people look with distrust on all that concerns the intimate social relations of the 
sexes, as knowledge that is dangerous and contaminating, that should be hid away in dark 
corners, or entirely excommunicated, abolished, or destroyed. Such thoughts and desires 
spring altogether from a wrong and misdirected education, instilling in the mind of the indi- 
vidual views and opinions tliat are narrow, contracted and unfair. That a knowledge of the 
whole of that part of human physiology that treats of the intimate social relations of the 
sexes can injure or in any way degrade the thought, the mind, the body, or the soul of the 
individual, would be a sad reflection on God's loving justice and mercy. 

This book has most approvingly been noticed by divines of all denominations, physi- 
cians, and by over three hundred of the most prominent and influential papers of the coun- 
try. Some — only a very few — of these notices, or rather short extracts from them will be 
found on the pages following the Table of Contents, to which the reader is referred. These 
notices do not include the scores of letters received from the people, whose great sympa- 
thetic hearts beat in response to the high aims and noble purposes inculcated in the book. 




^'^'^A! 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
CHAPTER I. — Marriage and its Advantages. 

Men who are unmarried— — Reasons advanced for remaining single Marriage a natural condition of adult 

life The great desires and aims of life, how only to be secured through marriage Objects in Mar- 
rying False objects How mistakes are made in choosing Should those afflicted wuh consump- 
tion and other diseases marry ? The great wrong done in this direction The true and only objects 

in marrying, ........... ,5 — jg 

CHAPTER II. — Age at which to Marrv. 
How determined Puberty, how accelerated, how retarded The error in fixing the popular age for mar- 
riage The true age at which to marry as determined by physiology Why children born of early 

marriages are undesirable — -The effect of early marriage on the woman On the man The result of 

unions between persons of disproportionate ages Between old men and young women, . 30 35 

CHAPTER III.— The Law of Choice. 

Its great importance It is as easily understood and as applicable as any other law that governs mind and 

matter Mode of forming matrimonial alliances among the Assyrians Chinese Moors Turki 

Tartars Siberians The custom of purchasing wives Modern marriages analyzed Th« ▼«- 



COIVAN &- COMPANY'S CATALOGUE OF NEW BOOKS, 

THE SCIENCE OF A NEW LIFE— Contents Continued. 

ery-day result The choosing a wiic and purchasing a farm compared Wherein consists the differ- 
ence The great error made in choosing The only true mode Resuhing in a harmonious and per- 
fect love-union Phrenology as a guide in choosiuj;, ....... 36 — 44 

CHAPTER IV.— Love Analyzed. 

'Ij love, as popularly used, a rcqiiirement in choosing a wife or husband ? Poets and novelists on love 

The mistiness surrounding the true meaning of the word The mistakes made in its application 

Characteristics of mock love Rationale of true love The definition of perfect sexual love Pa- 
rental love Brotherly and sisterly love Love of God Reciprocity of thought and feeling as a re- 
quirement in love Love at first sigh Jan perfect love exist ?- Health and purity of body as a re- 
quirement to its existence Sickness and filthy habits as a bar to its existence, . , 45 — =0 

CHAPTER v.— Qualities the Man Should Avoid in Choosing. 

Transmitted disease Hysterical women Small waists Why their possessors are incapable of making 

good wives Natural waists, or no wives Why large men should not marry small women Igno- 
rant and wrongly educated Strong-minded women Modern accomplishments, their utter uselessness 

in married life Knowledge of household affairs a requisite in all women who marry Skin-deep 

beauty and true beauty compared Extravagance of dress and ornament False hair, false " forms," 

etc. Women who are indolent and lazy .Marriage of cousins, right or wrong ? Extracts from the 

■works of Drs. Carpenter and Voisin The author's opinion and advice on the subject Tempera- 
ments Widows Divorced women Difference in religious faith Women who have a greater 

fondness for balls, parties and gossip, than for home associations Other qualities that are to be avoided 

How and when to see women to learn their characteristics Phrenology as a help What should 

be done on choosing and being accepted Advertising for a wife Arguments favoring its use Mode 

to proceed Objections considered, ........ 51 — 63 

CHAPTER VI. — Qualities the Vv'oman Should Avoid i.r Choosing. 
The feverish desire of women to get married Indications of the result Who responsible Perfect wom- 
anhood should be reached before the thought of marriage is entertained Sickness and ill health in the 

man Men possessing the disgusting habit of using tobacco, and the degrading one of using alcoholic 

liquors, should be avoided Why ? An unsolved mystery Lustful and licentious men Are mod- 
erate drinkers desirable as husbands ? The " fast" man and "rake," and woman's shame in recognizing 

such Fallen women, and woman's duty to such Effeminate men Men having no visible means of 

support Blood-relations Widowers Divorced men Irreligious and profane men Gamblers 

Mean men Lazy men Marrying strangers on short acquaintance Marrying for money or a 

home Woman, in being sought after, should appear only in her every-day character The importance 

of this as affecting her future welfare Should women be allowed to advertise for husbands ? Doubts 

on the subject If attempted, how to avoid evil results F;iiling an offer of marriage, what then ? 

" Old" maids Words of consolation and cheer to unmarried women, . . . 64 — 73 

CHAPTER VII, — The Anatomy and Physiology of Generation in Woman. 

The importance of a knowledge of reproductive physiology in all who think of marrying The uterus 

Ligaments Cavity of the uterus Structure Fallopian tubes Ovaries Their structure 

Graffian follicles Ovum, or egg Size and formation of human egg How it ripens and is thrown 

off The corpus luteum I'he febrile excitement produced by the ripening of the Graffian vesicle and 

escape of the egg The vagina Labia Hymen Menstruation When it first appears and 

when it cpases Its origin and nature Ovarian pregnancy Tubal pregnancy The mammary 

glands Nipples The secretion of milk Colestrium, ..... 74 — 86 

CHAPTER VIII.— The Anatomy and Physiology of Generation in M.\n. 

Prostate gland Cowper glands Testes Scrotum Stiucture of the testes Vasa recta Vasa 

deferens Spermatic cord Vesiculje seminales Ejactilatory ducts Semen lis nature, liow it 

originates, am: how perfected Spermatozoa Effect of first appearance of semen en boy Effect of 

its re-absorption in the continent man The Law of Sex Is there a law governing the production of 

children of different sex s at will'? Different theories on the subject The latest theory probably the 

right one Mode of procedure, as given by the discoverer, for parents to generate male or female children 

at will, ............ 87 — 104 

CHAPTER IX — Amativeness — its Use and Abuse. 

The cerebellum Its two-fold nature Aniativeness Its siae in proportion to rest of brain Its location 

The higher the organ of the brain, the greater the pleasure derived from its e.xercise 1 he nervous 

fluid Where originated i'he effect when largely drawn on by amativeness Sensuality Its uni- 
versality among all classes and all ages The effect on amative desires by the observance of right and 

wrong dietetic habits Causes of abnormal amative desires in women The results of the abuse of am- 
ativeness The effect on the nervous system The semen, capable of giving life, is, when reabsorbed, 

capable of renewing life Promiscuous indulgence Risks incurred A sad case Hospital sights 

Excessive indulgence between the married The slave-life of the wife in this direction The re- 
sults Amative excesses in those newly married No pure love where there is sexual excess Dis- 
gust, not love, born of this great wrong Easily read signs of sexual excess in tne man and woman 

The great necessity for a reformation in this direction, ..... 105 — 123 

CHAPTER X.— The Prevention of Conceptio.n. 

The true reason of the desire for knowledge on this subject Mode adopted by the " Perfectionists" — —Its 

difliculty of observance Its harmfulness The method advocated by latter-day physiologists, founded 

on the theory of the monthly arrival at and departure from the womb of the ovum Wherein it fails 

Intercourse during lactation How it results in conception-^— Other methods of conception, and the 



COIVAJV & COMPANTS CATALOGUE OF NEW BOOKS. 

THE SCIENCE OF A NEW LIFE— Contents Continued. 

harm ihcy Jo- — -The only true method of prevention as ordained by God ^The observance of which 

carries with it no bad after-effects, ........ 121 — 1:3 

CHAPTER XI.— The Law ok Continence. 

Its great importance— The prevailing ignorance on the subject Definition of the word continence— Hovr 

often is the sexual act permissible between a man and wife living a pure and chaste life The only true 

solution being God's divine law in this direction The only natural time for intercourse Anything dif- 
fering from this carries with it sin and sickness Some objections to a continent fe considered— ^Locko, 

Newton and Pitt, men who never married, and who were known to live continent lives The elementary 

differences between a life of licentiousness and a life of strict continence— —The true use of the reproduc- 
tive element^— The difficulty in adopting and living a continent life Rules for guidance The reac- 
tion produced by a sudden arrest of sexual excess and the use of alcoholic liquors compared and explained 

——Health not compatible with seminal emissions Plan of Life— Tobacco— —Alcoholic liquors 

Gluttony Food to be used and avoided Bread- Dress Exercise Beds and sleeping rooms 

Hours for rest and exercise — —Habits — ■ — Employment Choice of companions Training of the 

will-power— Drugs and patent medicines— Quack doctors— Cultivation of the religious senti- 
ments, ............ 129 — 150 

CHAPTER XII. — Children, their Desirability. 
An essential requisite in a perfect union that parental love be present The command to " increase and mul- 
tiply"- Why children arc troublesome to rear— — -The remedy Small families and no families among 

the married on the increase Large families 3 thing of the past The cause lor the growing antipathy 

to have children -Beauty and youth retained, if not acquired, by having children under right condi- 
tions The loneliness and desolation of life without children The bearing and rearing of children a 

glorious privilege— The perfection of love and happiness that comes of generating bright and beautiful 
children— Abdon, Judge of Israel, with his forty sons and thirty grandchildren Increase of offspring 
and overcrowded populations, ...... ^ . . J51 — 154 

CHAPTER XIII — Thb Law of Genius. 
Plainness .ind mediocrity among mankind the rule, and beauty and genius the exception The cause Ed- 
ucational and benevolent institutions, in the elevation of humanity, of very small moment in comparison 

with the pre-natal influence of the mother All the workings of this universe, from the smallest to the 

greatest, governed by law In the production of offspring there too must be a law The la\T of chance 

or accident the law observed by the mass of mankind The great wrong done by the non-observance of 

the law of reproduction The deformed, homely, and diseased— ^The mediocre The world's great, 

theii appearance explained The immense importance of a light birthright on the future welfare of man- 
kind — -Extending into eternity An imbecile or idiot here cannot bloom into a Shakespeare or Milton 

an the next world — —A nature endov/cd by the parents with a licentious, gluttonous, wicked nature, will 

not, on leaving this earth, lake on the garments of purity, innocence and holiness The fundamental 

principles of genius iji reproduction Some obstacles to its observance Their remedies The re- 
quirements in women whose desire it is to observe the law of genius in the production of bright and beau- 
tiful children The requirements in men Three periods of transmitted influence Period of intro- 
ductory preparation Period of gcstatory influence Period of nursing influence The mother's in- 
fluence during these periods The father's influence The time at which the ovum, or egg, is in its 

freshest and ripest Btate, at which time it should be impregnated Husband and wife's duty during the 

period of introductory preparation The principal requisites required to transmit desirable qualities to 

the offspring The quality of genius, or beauty, not necessary in the parents to enable them to transmit 

these qualities to their offspring Definition of genius as given by Webster Talent always in demand, 

mediocrity always at a discount The pursuit of life for the child to be determined on before ccnception 

Farmers — —Farming the most desirable occupation in life Where they fail and how they fail 

What they are and what they should be Other occupations Adam Smith on vegetarianism First 

thing to be done in the observance of the season of introductory preparation Th-^ importance of a life 

free from injurious and filthy habits during this period Order Truthfulness Reverence for God 

Unity of plans and desires The introductory period one of intensity of thought and action Sup- 
pose a plan of life be adopted for a male child, and a female appear What then ? Instruction by ex- 
amples-- — The expense for educating the future child should commence with the introductory period of 

preparation This law of genius can be adopted by ttie poorest as well as the richest Is a necessity as 

much to the laborer as to the diplomatist In transmission of genius, the j-arents do not require to knov 

so much as to trj', to experiment The transmission of accessory qualities as guides and aids to the pie- 

dominant faculty Religious sentiments Transmitted beauty of face and form Parents can as eas- 
ily have beautiful children as they can homely ones Rules to be observed Ejcamples Parents can 

generate children of a cheerful, healthy, laughing nature as e.isily as they can the reverse The plan to 

be followed easy of observance Importance of a life of strict chastity during these different periods of 

pre-natal influence Feverish pursuit of money as a barrier to the observance of this law A father's 

direct influence om the new life ends with the period of introductory preparation Importance of a close 

observance by hiin^ — -Result of a united observance of this law, .... 155— 17s 

Part Second — The Consummation. 

CHAPTER XIV.— The Conception of a New Life. 

The proper season Best months Rest time of day Light and darkness Light the source of li/a 

Darkness the synonyrn of death The new life should be generated when the husband and wife are 

at their perfection of physical and mental strength The time of day this occurs The sleeping room 



COWAiY & COMPANYS CATALOGUE OF NEW BOOKS. 

THE SCIENCE OF A NEW LIFE— Contents CoNTiNtiBO. 

■ The morning exercise of the devotional sentiments^ — 'Out-door exercise- Purity of thoughts ■ 

The consummation, ....,.., i^g jg^ 

CHAPTER XV.— The Physiology of Intra-Uterine Growth. 

Growth of the e^g after fecundation The remarkable change that takes place— '—Segmentation of the vi- 

tellusi I Blustodermic membrane — —External layer Internal layer— -Chorion— —Ovum at end of first 

month Relation of the cord, placenta, membrane, etc— —Embryo, how nourished— "'Placenta Foe- 
tal circulaiion— Description of growth of ovum from tenth day to ninth month— Growth and develop- 
n.ent of the face, .■.....,. , , iSi igj 

CHAPTER XVI.— Period of Gestative Influence. 

Ill* fecundated egg When the physical life commences — —When the soul life commences— The medium 

of communication l;etween the soul and the body The medium of communication between the mother 

and foetus The first great requirement to be observed by the mother during this period— —I'he food to 

be used at this time i'he only allowab'e drink -Dyspepsia, how traiismittecl— — The importance ol 

air and light' — Baths Sleep -Habits of thought and action to be observed— —Period of gestative 

influence to be divided into two sections-^ The first four months, the physical in the mother predomina- 
ting — --The last five, the mental predominating — —Indisputable reasons why sexual congress should not 
take place between the husband and wife during this period— —Illustrations of the wonderful power of pre- 
natal influence A young prodigy An engineer — —Woman's right to choose new paths of labor 

Woman's mediocrity in her present alloted paths of labor How to be remedied— —Napoleon I The 

poet Burns Why Scotland produces such a number of literary and scientific men Other illustrations 

— The result, when this law is slighted and disregarded Children with bad tempers Untruthful, 

sickly, scrofulous, consumptive, homely, desire for tobacco -Fondness for alcoholic liquors, licentious, 

imbecile, idiotic, dishonest, revengeful Cases illustrating these facts— -The great responsibility parents 

accept in generating new beings for eternity, .... . . 192 — 234 

CHAPTER XVIL— Pregnancy, its Signs and Duration, 

How originating a new life affects the nature of the mother Signs indicating that pregnancy has taken 

place— —Failure in recurrence of the menses— —Morning sickness -Salivation— — Mammary changes 

Secretion of milk— Enlargement of the abdomen — —Quickening Pregnancy may exist without 

any of these signs Duration of pregnancy 'Viability of the child -Plan to adopt to save life in 3 

birth at the seventh month, ,,.,,..,, 235 — 246 

CHAPTER XVIII.— Disorders of Pregnancy, 

Bearing of children a natural process— Why some women have easy, and others dififrcult births Underly- 
ing cause of ill health during pregnancy Nausea and vomiting— — -Longings— — Fainting Sleep- 
lessness Costiveness — — Diarrhcea— Piles Pruritus—Heartburn—^ — Toothache— — Headache 

Palpitation of the heart -Swelling of the feet and legs' Pain in the breast Hysteria— — Irritation 

of the bladder Jaundice Vomiting of blood — -Vaccination— —Salivation Abortion, or Mis- 
carriage What it indicates — —Its frequency, how caused— —Effects on the Woman serious and lasting 

——Symptoms— How to arrest How to prevent, , , , , 247 — 255 

CHAPTER XIX.— Confinement. 

Mode of life to be adopted to insure an easy birth Clothing— Food that will prematurely hard^m the bones 

Food that will keep them in a cartilaginous state— —Prevention from suffering in parturition The 

time when this particular kind of food should be used — —Baths a great help to easy child-birth Injec- 
tions Pure air ard sunlight -Exercise — —Preparations for Confinement — —The presence of gos- 
siping friends and neighbors undesirable ^Who should be present Commencement of labor First 

indications -How to proceed in case the accoucher fails \a attend, . . . 256—263 

CHAPTER XX.— Management of Mother and Child After Delivery. 

Removal of soiled clothes Bathing ^Hovv the abdominal bandage is useless -What to substitute in its 

place Visitors Ventilation of the lying-in chamber Mistakes in regard to diet at this time 

The breasts Milk-fever Care of Nipples— — -Management of child after birth- Baths— Dress ■ 

Exercise- Nursing room— —Food Soothing syrups How often should a child be nursed— When 

should it be weaned, ... . m . . - • • 264 — 278 

CHAPTER XX. — Period of Nursing Influence. 

How the character of the chi.'i is influenc?d by the mother during this period— —The great wrong done the 
child when not nursed by the mother— Maternal influence at this period greatly under-estimated Ef- 
fect of the use of wrong food and drink by the mother on the health and character of the child Effect 

of mental effort on the nursing child The mother can transmit desirable mental and physical qualities 

to the child during this period Full directions to' this end, .... 279 286 

Part Third — ^Wrongs Righted, 

CHAPTER XXII.— Fceticide. 

Its extent —A nation o^ murderers As prevalent in the country as in the city— —Proofs The crime a 

murder, no more ; no less ^ .Arguments the perpetrators advance to shield their iniquity When life is 

present in the embryo When the soul is present -Classes of society in which the women are found 

who practice ante-natal child-murder — -Church-members and professing Christians not exempt The 

crime against the wife and child of an undesired maternity Who responsible Letter* from womcD 

6 



COWAN & COMPANY'S CATALOGUE OF NEW BOOKS. 

who have suffered, exposing the cause and its results in all their hideous deformity Results of forced 

abortions on the Ijody and soul of the mother Proportion who die The local effects Effects on the 

children born after Sterility a frequent result Beauty destroyed Old age hastened Remorse of 

conscience The ever-present phantom of a great crime These undeveloped souls as witnesses in the 

next world Advice offered, the observance of which will result in less danger and harm to the mother 

Effect on the child should the woman fail in accomplishing her desire Suggestions as to how tho 

great crime is to be treated and prevented No forced abortions practiced by Roman Catholics The 

duty of ministers and teachers Parting words to unmarried women, . . . 280 tis 

CHAPTER XXIII.— Diseases Peculiar to Women. 
Their cause and symptoms Directions for home-treatment and cure Why women are so universally com- 
plaining A rich field ^or quack:? and patent-medicine venders Absent menstruation Retained 

menstruation Suppressed menstruation Chronic suppression Irregular menstruation Painful- 
menstruation Profuse menstruation Vicarious menstruation Cessation of menstruation Chlo- 
rosis Tnflaminalion of the ovaries Inflammation of the uterus Chronic inflammation Ulcer- 
ation of the uterus Tiunor in the uterus Cancer of the uterus Corroding ulcer Cauliflower ex 

crescence Displacement uf the uterus Prolapsus uteri, or falling of the womb Retroversion of 

the uterus Retroflexion .Ante-version Leucorrhoea or "whites," . . . 311 — 329 

CHAPTER XXIV.— Diseases Peculiar to Men. 

Their cause and .symptoms, with directions for home-treatment and cure Gonorrhoea and cure Gleet 

Phymosis Paraphymosis Stricture of the urethra Swelled testicle Inflammation of the pros- 
tate gland Inflammation of the bladder Vegetations The chancroid and chancre Buboes-^^- 

Syphilis — -Diagnostic difference between the chancroid and chancre Involuntary nocturnal emissions 

— Spermatozoa .Miscellaneous disorders affecting emission, erection and the semen, . 330 364 

CHAPTER XXV.— Masturbatio.n. 

Its cause, results and cure Its extent Its effects on the character and future prospects of the individual 

Evidence from the superintendent of a lunatic asylum as to its prevalence Exciting and transmitted 

causes Signs in the boy, girl or man, that he who runs may read Home-method of cure and restora- 
tion to perfect manhood Requirements necessary to its prevention, , . 365 — 375 

CHAPTER XXVI. — Sterility and Impotence. 

Cause, treatment and cure One of the first l.aws promulgated by the Almighty, "Increase and multiply" 

The incapacity to observe this law a source of hfe-long misery and unhappiness Sterility, in most 

cases, susceptible of removal ; 1 wo classes Violated physiological laws as causes How excess in 

the newly married results in sterility Why a large proportion of the newly married have no desire for 

children How sterility occurs after the birth of one or two children Inflammation of the uterus as a 

cause General debility Prolapsus and obliquity of the womb as causes Imperforate hymen 

Stricture of the vagina Tumors Stricture of the neck of the uterus Obliteration of Fallopian 

tubes — -Inflammation of ovaries .Absence of uterus Congenital shortness of vagina Undevel- 
oped ovaries Impothncv in Man Lowering of the vital force by excess Masturbation Want 

of sexual feeling Non-descent of the testicles Hernia Varicocele Stricture of the urethra 

Obesity Abnormal condition of the erectile tissue A na.ural phymosis— Temperament, 376 — 384 

CHAPTER XXVII.— Subjects OF WHICH More Might DE Said, .... 385 — 396 

CHAPTER XXVIII.— A Happy Married Life— How Secured 397—410. 




Personal and newspaper notices. 



\_From the Woman'' s Advocate.'] 

The title of this work suggests the idea of another hfe on this earth-plane of existence- 

higher, hoher, and purer in its aims, aspirations, and desires, and yet it does not suggest, 
or even intimate, to the prospective reader the true character and nature of the vohime in. 
its mission before tlie world. To the actual reader the title is truly significant and appropri- 
ate — as the writer so beautifully unfolds the Laws of Reproduction, by and through the ob- 
servance of which the highest and jnirest type of humanity may be and is produced. The 
regeneration of the race, through the laws of physiological and psychological reproduction; 
is the leadmg and perhaps the grandest thought of Dr. Cowan's work. 



COIVAN &■ COMPANY'S CATALOGUE OF NEW BOOKS. 



PERSONAL AND NEWSPAPER NOTICES. 

\_From Di'. Dio Le-Mis, of Boston, the ivcll-knaion Author and Lecturer.'^ 
Dr. Cowan — Dear Sir : I have read your work, "The Science of a New Life." I have 
more than read it — 1 have studied, I have feasted upon it. 

During the last twenty years I have eagerly sought everything upon this most vital sub- 
ject, but I liave found nothing which approaches in simplicity, delicacy, earnestness and 
power this work. On my own account, and in behalf of the myriads to whom your incom- 
parable book will carry hope and life, I thank you. 

For years I have been gathering material for such a work. Constantly I have applica- 
tions for the book, which years ago I promised the public. Now I shall most conscientiously 
and joyfully send them to you. I am most respectfully yours, DIO LEWIS, 

\_Extract of a Letter from Robert Dale Oiuen to the Author. ] 

I thank you much for the brave book you were so kind as to send me. The subjects 
upon which it touches are among the most important of any connected with Social Science, 
and the world is your debtor for the bold stand you have taken. 

Yours sincerely, ROBERT DALE OWEN. 

[^Frovt J\e7>. Octavius B. Frothingham, of New York. ] 

I have read with care "The Science of a New Life." If a million of the married and 
unmarried would do the same, they would learn many things of deepest import to their 
welfare. 

Not that I am prepared to give it my unqualified praise ; but the substance of the book 
is excellent, its purpose high, its counsel noble, its spirit earnest, humane, and pure. I 
trust it will have a very wide circulation. Sincerely yours, O. B. FROTHINGHAM. 

\^From IF. Watte IVartter, Editor of the Michigan State Register. ] 

I can hardly thank you sufficiently for your great goodness in sending me this magnificent 
v.'ork, and I shall do my best to procure for you an active Agent in this State. I regard 
" The Science of a New Life" as the ablest and best work of the kind yet published, and 
feel assured that it will do incalculable good in the world. Such a work has long been 
needed, and I trust it will find earnest, thoughtful readers in every household in the land. 
It deserves a generous reception. Yours respectfully, W. WAITE WARNER. 

\From Francis E. Abbott, Editor Index, Toledo.'^ 

Dr. John Cowan's " Science of a New Life" is a work devoted to all that relates to mar- 
riage and written in a style and spirit that command our unqualified approbation. It is 
plain, direct, and practical — yet permeated with so deep a reverence for the marriage rela- 
tion, and so utter an abhorrence of what we are ashamed to call fashionable abominations, 
that pruriency will be rebuked, and the love of purity heightened by its perusal. There 
can be no question that physiological knowledge of this character is sorely needed by thou- 
sands and thousands of people, whose innocent offspring must pay the penalty of their pa- 
rents' ignorance or vice. To those who would put a really unexceptionable book on these 
subjects in the hands of young persons approaching maturity, we can conscientiously recom- 
naend this as one that will enlighten without debasing. 

\_From Rev. N f. Burton, of Hartford, Conn."] 

I have read Dr. Cowan's " Science of a New Life," dedicated by him to " all the mar- 
ried, but particularly to those who contemplate marriage," and I think it is a decidedly 
good book to circulate. The Doctor writes with the most downright plainness on the most 
delicate matters, but with the most perfect purity, and with an evident intention to do good. 
He inclines to be an extremist at points — as, for example, where he lays it down that no 
woman should marry a man who uses tobacco ; but his exaggerations are always in the di- 
rection of good morals and the noblest life, and I wish him any amount of success in circu- 
llating his book. Truly yours, N. J. BURTON. 

8 



COU^AN & COMPANTS CATALOGUE OF NEW BOOKS. 



\_From Rev. E. 0. TVarrf, Presbyterian Minister, of Bethany, Pa."] 

"The Science of a New Life," by John Cowan, M.D., I consider well worthy of patron- 
age, and cheerfully commend it to the confidence of my people, and hope it shall have a 
very extensive circulation. Rev. li. O. WARD. 

[Prom Moore'' s Rural New- Vorier."] 

"If ever the reformation of the world is to be accomplished — if ever the millennium of 
purity, chastity, and intense happiness reaches this earth, it can only do so through rightly 
directed pre-natal laws." Such is the sentiment upon which this book is built up — a senti- 
ment not admirably expressed, but admirable in its meaning. To a correct understanding 
of the laws pre-natal and post-natal, as also to a more thorough comprehension of what 
marriage should be, and what it should accomplish for mutual happiness, these four hun- 
dred and five octavo pages by Dr. Cowan must greatly conduce. They are devoted to top- 
ics concerning which no person arrived at years of thoughtfulness should be ignorant. They 
treat of these topics in a plain, sensible manner, in language that none but a prude can ob- 
ject to, and are apparently written in no spirit of quackery, but for a worthy purpose. 
Could the book be placed in the hands of every young person contemplating matrimony it 
would assuredly do much good. 

[Prom the Christian Advocate, Nov York.'\ 

It is a difficult as well as a delicate task to discuss in a proper nvinner the subject of re- 
production of a new human life. This the author of this work has undertaken, going into 
details of facts and philosophy, with constantly applied suggestions of a physiological, san- 
itary and moral character. The method and execution of the work are quite unexception- 
able, and many of its practical suggestions are certainly valuable. 

[From the Round Tabic, Nruj York. ] 

The dedication of Dr. Cowan's book — "To all the Married, but particularly to those who 
contemplate Marriage" sufi'iciently indicates its scope and purpose. It is an earnest plea for 
temperance in all things, for the subjection of the senses to the spirit, for the rule of purity 
and continence, especially in the relation of life which most people seem to enter only to 
find a pretext for discarding both. # » » * if only for the earnestness with which it 
denounces and condemns the atrocious practice of ante-natal infanticide, or the scarcely less 
revolting indecencies of prevention, the legal prostitution of all sorts for which modern mar- 
riage is made the flimsy veil, this book would be worthj^ of the praise of every pure-minded 
man and woman ; but it calls for even higher approbation by its recognition and emphatic 
assertion of what to-day is so rarely recognized or admitted — the essential nobleness, purity ■ 
and holiness of the marital state. 

[Prom the Methodist Home youmal, Philadelphia, Pa. ] 

This work is a clear, comprehensive, and yet concise treatment of laws which regulate hu- 
man life, as well as those which pertain to the married relation. It is an evidently candid 
attempt to popularize information on one of the most important subjects which come within 
the range of human thought. The book is worthy an extended sale. 

[Prom the Hartford Courant. ] 

This work is very different from the works that are usually published on this subject. It 
is a plain but chaste book, dealing with the physical problems which most concern all hu- 
man beings in the spirit of science and humanity. What we all as society need is a better 
understanding of physiology and the laws of health, so that men and women, knowing these 
laws and their own constitutions, can live properly, in such physical estate as shall produce 
the best mental state. This book is a very valuable contribution to that end. 

[Prom the Scottish American, New Vorh."] 

This work is specially designed for married persons and those who contemplate marriage. 
We agree with the author in believing that " no person who exercises the unselfish and im- 
partial of his or her nature can possibly read and reflect upon its contents without being im- 
pressed, m a greater or smaller measure, with the re<iuirements so necessary in all that goes 

9 



COWAN & COMPANY'S CATALOGUE OF NEW BOOKS. 



to constitute life as God first planned it." The work contains a large amount of informa- 
tion, apart from theory, of the highest value to all who prize the blessing of " a sound minJ 
in a sound body." It is a work which may safely be placed in the hands of all married per- 
sons, and all persons intending to marry, and their happiness would certainly be much in- 
creased by observing the rules laid down by the author. The work is carefully printed from 
large type, on good paper, is well bound and beautifully illustrated. 

\^Froni the Revolution, Ncio Yo>-k. ] 

This is one of the handsomest volumes, as well as most elaborate treatises on its subject, 
that has for a long time appeared. To young families, or persons about entering the family 
i-elation, it will prove a treasure. To parents, teachers, and all who have the training of 
children, it cannot be too highly recommended. 

\_Froin the Banney of Lignt, Boston. ] 

We welcome a publication of this sort with undisguised sincerity, thankful that the time 
at last has come when fundamental and radical physiological truths may be told to the peo- 
ple plainly. Had such books been placed in the hands of youilger men two or three gener- 
ations ago, their eflfect would have been visible enough in the physical character and habits 
of the men of to-day. 

\_From the Lowell Daily Courier. ] 

This is the only book of this character we have ever seen which seem to be imbued with 
a conscientious spirit from beginning to end. Hundreds of books on love, marriage, and 
the relations of the sexes, have been written to sell. Many of them have done infinite 
harm, instead of remedying the evils they pretended to combat ; but nobody can practice on 
the principles laid down by Dr. Cowan without being better and wiser. 

\^Froi>t the New York Albion.\^ 

"The Science of a New Life," by John Cowan, M.D., is a hygienic and social guide 
which many men, whether married or single, will be the better for carefully perusing. * * * 
It devotes a large space to matters more or less physiological in their character, anil in so 
doing treads upon somewhat delicate groiuid ; yet we have failed to detect anything which 
might be regarded as inadmissible in a book intended for the instruction and to promote the 
well-being of those into whose hands it may fall. It discusses the subjects on which it 
treats in a refined and Christian spirit andXwith much good sense. 

\^From the Farmer, Bridgeport, Conn.'] 

Upon no topic connected with our physical well-being does so much ignorance prevail, 
ftnd consequently abuse or wrong-doing, as Upon those so fully treated of in this work. 
The book should have a wide circulation. The author has dedicated it to " all the married, 
and particularly those who contemplate marriage." He should have dedicated it to " all the 
world, and the rest of mankind," for its expositions and teachings are important not only to 
the married and those whocontemplate marriage, but to all, both of high degree and low 
degree, civilized or savage." 

[From the Register, South Jackson, Mich. ] 

Books of this character can not be multiplied too rapidly, nor can the influence of such 
works as this, in releasing men and women ffom the strong bonds of ignorance, vice, and 
Crime, be too highly estimated. The human race, we know, needs something stronger and 
more powerful than the influence of a single volume, however good, to remove the many 
evils of social and domestic life — line upon line, precept upon precept— -a little here, and a 
great deal more there, can alone accomplish the great work of reformation, and restore the 
wasted, sin-polluted lives of our fellow-beings to a condition of moral purity ; but we must 
admit that Dr. Cowan has done all that any lover of his race can do to check the downward 
course of the ignorant, thoughtless, and sinful. 

iO 



WHAT TO EAT, AND HOW TO COOK IT; 

WITH RULES FOR 

Preserving, Canning, and Drying Fruits and Vegetables, 



BY THE AUTHOR OF "THE SCIENCE OF A NEW LIFE." 

There are scores of Cook-Books in the market, but it is a question if the ingredients and the mixtures and 
eombinations they affcc as " receipes" do not, when used as food, result in physical suffering, rather than in 
health and vigor. 

This book differs from that class of Cook-Books in that it aims to give, in a plain and understandable way. 
the kind of food that it is best to eat in order to regain and sustain health and strength, and a mode of cooking 
it that will make it at once palatable, nutritious and wholesome. Its contents, in part, are as follows! 

Wheat and its Preparations—=«-25 different methods of cooking. 
Corn and Rye, and their Preparations.-— ^38 different methods of cooking. 
Oats and its Preparations— ^-'-y different methods of cooking. 
Buckwheat and its Prep.arat'.ons 
Barley and its Preparations. 

Rice and its Picparations-«— -lo methods of cooking. 
Sago, Tapioca and Arrowroot, and their Preparations. 
Potatoes and their Pieparations — "^16 different methods of cooking. 
Peas and Beans, and their Preparations— ^-14 methods of cooking. 
Turnips, Carrots, Par.^nips and Artichokes, and their Preparations. 
Onions, Leeks, Garlic, etc. and their Preparations. 
Cabbage, Cauliflower, Spinach, Greens, etc., and their Preparations. 

Apples, Pears, Quinces, Grapes, and their Preparations— —60 v/.ays of preparing and cooking. 
Raisiils, Figs, Cucumbers, Melons, Pumpkins, Tomatoes, and their Preparations. 
Pies— ^-How to make them healthfully. 

Gravies and Sauces -- " 12 different kinds, without grease or spices. 

Food and Drink for the Sick - ' - ^ with directions for making delicious Unfermented Wine. 
Water— ^giving directions whereby svery house can have pure soft water. 
Rules for Eating - ' A very important chapter. 

Objectionable Articles of Diet— — equally as important, and necessarj' for all to know. 
Poisons in Daily Use— -e.xposing the different methods of adulterating food, and horvv to detect them. 
Preserving, Canning, and Drying Fruits and Vegetables. 

As will be seen, this book differs, in mode of arrangement and method of cooking food simply and health- 
fully, from any Cook-Eook heretofore published. 

It gives 15 different recipes for making healthful, nutritious and palatable Bread, without the aid of either 
yeast or baking pjwder. 

It gives 16 different styles for healthfully cooking Potatoes. 

It gives 25 modes of making Biscuit, and 30 methods of making and cooking Puddings, without the use 
of soda, grease, etc. 

It gives 12 methods of cooking Apples. 

Very important information is contained under the head of " Objectionable Articles of Diet," and it tells 
fill about Poisons in dally use, and how to detect them. 

The article on " The Home Method of Preserving, Canning and Drying Fruits and Vegetables," is not 

to be found in any other Cook-Book published, and is of itself well Worth thrice the price asked for the book. 

Fiii.iIIy, it is so afranred that, if a housekeeper has only one or two articles in the house to prepare a 

meal with, she can find out by this book the best method of cooking such articles in a palatable, inviting and 

healthful manner. 

Si^^'If you wish to avoid sickness and live healthfully, by eating food cooked and prepared in a simple 
and inviting manner, send for 

WHAT TO EAT, AND HOW TO COOK IT, 

125 pages. Price-'-'Baund in Cloth, gilt side-stamp, 50 cents ; in Paper, 30 cents. Mailed, on receipt . 
of price, by the Publishers, 



COWAN & COMPANY, 
139 Eighth Street, New York. 



Two Valuable Hand- Books. 



THE USE OF TOBACCO, 

versus 

PURITY, CHASTITY, AND SOUND 
HEALTH. 

TOBACCO. 

How its use causes Baldness. 
How it produces Dyspepsia and Indigestion. 
How it decays the Teeth. 
How it affects Hearing and Seeing. 
How it results in Heart-Disease. 
How it causes a fondness for Alcoholic Liquors. 
How it weakens the memory. 

How (in boys and young men) it prevents a growth into 
a perfect Manhood— dwarfing Heart and Intellect 
Soul and Body. 
Every young man who aspires to be somebody — 
to make life a success, physically, mentally and mo- 
rally—should send for, read, and be guided by the 
councils contained in this book. 

Mailed for 30 cents ; in cloth 50 cents. 



INTEMPERANCE: 

ITS FINANCIAL, PHYSICAL, MENTAL, 
SOCIAL AND MORAL EVILS, 

AND 

ITS CAUSE AND REMEDY. 

ALCOHOL. 
How it weakens the Body. 
How it depraves the Mind. 
How it produces Poverty. 
How the Taste is Transmitted. 
How the Taste is Acquiied. 
The effect of its use on the Young. 
Its use at the Lord's Table 
Its use by Physicians 
What Eminent Men say of it. 

How it drags down and degrades the body >nd soul of 

all who touch, taste and handle the accursed thing. 

All whose desire it is to help stamp out the evil of 

Intemperance, should possess and circulate this book. 

Mailed for 30 Cents ; in cloth 50 cents. 



Books for Phrenologists, 
KNOW THYSELF 

Is a handsomely printed little work of 32 pages, and is just the thing in sire and matter for traveling 
Phrenologists. It is furnished at $4 per 100 copies, Sample copies 10 cents. Phrenologists on using it, give it the 
preferance overall other small charts, not alone for its low price, but for the arrangement of its contents and its 
general appearance. 

SELF-HELP 

IN THE ATTAINMENT OF PERFECTION OF CHARACTER AND SUCCESS 

IN LIFE 

By JOHN COWAN, M. D., 

Author of *'The Scietuc of a Ne^v Life" etc. 

This is one of the best books of the kind ever published. It contains just the information required by all 
whose desire it is to GROW UPWARD. Have you qualities of character that make your daily life mi.serable, 
inharmonious, uncongenial ? "Self-Help" will suggest to you how they may be remedied. Have you tendencies 
of mind that lead or tempt you to do wrong in any of the many relations you hold toward your fellow-man ? 
"Self-Help" by its suggestions will aid you into a purer morality. Are you at a loss to know what business it is 
best for you to follow in order to secure success in life ? This book will furnish you with the elements necessary 
to decide rightly and secure success. Are you unsuccessful in your business aims 7 This book will show you 
the cause of your non-success, and furnish you the stepping-stones to the royal road of wealth, health, and happiness. 

The location is given of all the mental organs, and their combinations, and is thus an excellent aid to the 
study of Phrenology, as well as to the study of one's own self. 

It has a table for recording developments, and practicing Phrenologists, will, on using the book, find that it 
gives excellent satisfaction. 

Bound in extra English Cloth, bevelled boards, gilt side stamp, 150 pages, over 40 illustrations, printed on 

heavy tinted paper, from new types. Price $i. To Phrenologists by the quantity at a large discount. Mailed on 

receipt of price. 

ADDRESS ALL ORDERS TO 

COWAN & COMPANY, 
REFORM Book Publishers, 139 Eighth Street, New York. 



HEALTH HINTS; 

Showing how to Acquire and Retain Bodily Symmetry, Healt. 

Vigor and Beauty. 



This is a new book just published, that contains a fund of rare, valuable and practical 
information on subjects that interest every man and woman, boy and girl. A partial list oi 
its contents is as follows: 

Cliapter /.—Laws of Bkauti— Definition of Beauty— Different styles of Beauty — The perfect Standard, kc, Uc. 

Chapter II. — Hebeditaby Transmission — Showing how parents can have halthy and b.autiflL. ciiiliJxen, &c. 

Chapter III. — AlB, Sunshine, Water and Food — How these elements influence Health and B&iuty -A whit: 
skin and pale complexion is not beauty — Sunlight necessary to health- &c., ic. - Uow orpulence may be 

gyred the Fat made Lean — How Lean jjeople may become Plump and Fat, full directions— /you need not be 

lean, angular, bony, or sharp visaged, when by following the directions in this book, you can a quire c round ■ 
ness'oi form, and a plumpness and rosiness of f?jce, that wiU be a delight and uleasure to look upon) -Pliilosc 
phy of bathing— How properly to wash tlie face, ( few know how to do thif , simple as it may appear)— A/ha! 
food to avoid by those who wish to regain or retain soimd health, cleai- skin and rosy cheeks— Thn best kind al. 
Toilet Soap to use, ic, &c. 

Chapter IV. — Work and Rest — How work and Rest, rightly observed, ln;.uence Health au.l B uty. 

Chapter V. — Dress and Ornament — Choice of color in Dress — The harmony of color in Dress to contrasi 
with the fair, blonde, ruddy blond, pale brunette, and florid blond — ic, ic. 

Chapter VI. — The Hair and its Management — How all may have a fine head of hair — Falling of the hair- 
To manage and dress the hair when long — How to curl the hair, without injuring it — The best Hair Dress- 
ing — How to dress the hair for a Photograph — Brittle hair — How grey hair can be restored to its natural color — 
To restore the hair iu Baldness — To remove superfluous hair — Falling of the hair — Best combs to use — Care of 
hair brushes — Wheu aud how to cut the hair — Why men's hair falls out more than women's — Different methods 
of washing the hair — How heating irons and frizzing spoils the hair — How the use of patent oils and pomades 
destroy the hair — How to make and use the best, most simple aud harmless hair dressing at small cost — Care 
of long hair at night — How dandruff aud itching of the Scalp may be cured, ic. — The Beard and Moustache — 
What boys and young men should do to acquire a tine, silky and handsome Beard and moustaches, ic, ic. 

Chapter VII. — Skin and Complexion — The secret of acquiring a bright and beautiful skin — How to avoid 
flabby softness, or scraggy leanness — Anatomy and uses of the skin, ic, ic. 

Chapter VIII.— Ths Mouth — giving full instructions about the lips, teeth, breath — Lips that are beautiful or 
repulsive, how caused — Biting and sucking the Ups — To prevent chapped lips — Habits that destroy the teeth — 
To prevent tartar — The best tooth brush — How to prevent a bad breath, ic. 

Chapter /X.— The Eyes, Ears and Nose— Habits that weaken and irritate the eye— The best light to work 
by — How to choose spectacles and fit them to the eye — Care of the ears — Deafness how to judge if curable — 
Red noses — How to reduce largo, fleshy and unsightly noses, ic, ic. 

Chapter X.— The Nkck, Hands and Feet— Care of the hands— To remove warts — Care of the finger nails— 
To cure blisters, corns and bunions, ic , 

Chapter XI. — Growths, Marks, io., that are Enemies of Beauty — Gives full directions for the cure of 
Sunburn, Freckles, Pimples, Wrinkles, Warts, Fleshworms — No lady possessing a copy of " Health Hints " 
need longer be troubled and annoyed by these enemies to % pleasing and inviting face aud complexion, ic, ic. 

Chapter XII. — Cosmetics and Perfumery — This chapter among other things gives an analysis of Perry's 
Moth and Freckle Lotion, Balm of White Lilies, Hagan's Magnolia Balm, Laird's Bloom of Youth, Phalon's 
Enamel, Clark's Restorative for the Hair, Chevalier's Life for the Hair, Ayer's Hair Vigor, Professor Woods Hair 
Restorative, Hair Restorer America, Gray's Hair Restorative, Phalon's Vitalia, Ring's Vegetable Ambrosia, Mrs. 
Allen's World's Hair Restorer. Hall's Vegetable Sicilian Hair Renewer; Martha Washington Hair Restorative, 
ic. ic, (no room for more,) showing how the lead, ic, in these mixtures cause disease and oftimes prema 
ture death. 

Price 50 cents, or handsomely bound, iu fine cloth, with side black and gold stamp, $1 00 
Send all orders only to the Publishers. 



COWAN & Co., 

No. 139 Eighth St., New York. 



Good Books Mailed on Eeceipt of Price. 



Courtship and Marriage; or, The Mysteries of Making Love fully Explained. This 
is an entirely new work on a most interesting subject. Contents.— First steps in courtsbip; Ad- 
vice to both parties at the outset; Introduction to the lady's family; Restrictions imposed by etiquette; 
What the lady should observe in early courtship; What the suitor should observe ; Etiquette as to pres- 
ents ; The proposal ; Mode of refusal -when not approved ; Conduct to be observed by u rejected suitor ; 
JBefu'sal by the lady's parents or guardians; Etiquette of an engagement; Demeanor of the betrothed 
pair- Should a courtship be lonar or short; Preliminary etiquette of a wedding ; Eixing the day ; How to 
be married ; The trousseau ; Duties to be attended to by the bridegi-oom , Who should be asked to the wed- 
din"- iJut'ies of the bridesmaids and briJegroomsmeu; Etiquette of a wedding; Costume of bride, 
bridesmaids, and bridegroom ; Arrival at the church ; The marriage ceremonial ; llegistry of the marriage ; 
Eeturn home, and wedding breakfast ; Departure for the honeymoon ; Wedding cards ; Modem practice of 
" No Cards • "' Reception and return of wedding visits ; Practical advice to a newly married couple. Mailed 
for 15 cents. 

How to Behave. — A Hand-Book of Etiquette and Guide to True Politeness.— Contents. — 
Etiquette and its uses ; Introductions ; Cutting acquaintances ; Letters of introduction ; Street etiquette ; 
Domestic etiquette and duties; Visiting; Receiving company; Evening parties; The lady's toilet; The 
gentleman's toilet; Invitations; Etiquette of tlie ball-room ; General rules of conversation ; Bashfulness, 
and how to overcome it; Dinner parties; Table etiquette; Carving; ;?ervants ; 1 ravelling; Visiting 
cards ; Letter-writing ; Conclusion. This is the best book of the kind yet published, and every ijerson wish- 
ing to' be considered well-bred, who wishes to understand the customs of good society, and to avoid incor- 
rect and vulgar habits, should send for a copy. Mailed for 15 cents. 

The Model Letter-Writer. — A Comprehensive and Complete Guide and Assistant 
for those who desire to carry on epistolary correspondence— containing instructions for writing Letters of 
Introduction; Letters on Business; Letters of Recommendation; Applications for Employment; Letters 
of Con'Tatulaiiou ; Letters of Condolence ; Letters of Friendship and Relationship ; Love Letters ; Notes 
of Invitation; Letters of Favor, of Advice, and of Eucuse, etc., etc., together with appropriate Answers 
to each. This is an invaluable book for those persons who have not had sufficient practice to enable them 
to write letters without great effort. Mailed for 15 cents. 

The Complete Fortune-Teller and Dream Book. — This book contains a complete 

Dictionary of Dreams, alphabetically arranged, with a clear interpretation of each dream, and the lucky 
numbers that belong to it. It includes Palmistry, or telling fortunes by the lines of the hand ; fortune- 
tellin" by the grounds in a tea or coffee cup ; how to read your future life by the white of an egg ; tells how 
to know who your luture husband will be, and how soon you will be married; fortune-telling by cards ; 
Hymen's lottery ; good and bad omens, etc., etc. Mailed for 15 cents. 

Love and Courtship Cards. — Sparkiugr, Courting, and Love-Makins all made easy 
by the use of these Cards. They are arranged ■v^ith such apt conversation that you will be able to ask the 
momentous question in such a delicate manner that the girl will not suspect what you are at. They may 
be used by two persons only, or they wiU make lots of tun for an evening party of young people. There 
are sixty cards in all, and each answer will respond differently to every one of the questions. Mailed for 
30 cents. 

How to Woo and How to Win. — Tliis interesting work contains full and explicit rules 
for the Etiquette of Courtship, with directions showing How to Win the Favor of the Ladies; How to begin 
and end a Courtship ; and How Love-Letteis should be written. It not only tells how to win the favor 
of the l.idies, but how to address a lady; conduct a courtship; "pop the question"; write love-letters ; 
all about the' marriage ceremony ; bridal chamber ; after marriage, etc. Maded for 15 cents. 

Art of Ventriloquism. — Contains simple and full directions by whicii any one may 
acquire this amusing art, with numerous examples for practice. Also instructions for making the 
ma^ic whistle for imitating birds, animals, and peculiar sounds of various kinds. Any boy who wishes to 
obtain an art' by which he can develop a wonderful amount of astonishment, mystery, and fun, should 
learn Ventriloquism, as he easily can by following the simple secret giveu in this book. Mailed for 15 cents. 

Leisure-Hour Work for Ladies. — Containing Instructions for Flower and Shell 
Work; Antique, Grecian, and Theorem Painting; Botanical Specimens: Cone Work; Anglo-Japanese 
Work; Decalcomanie ; Diaphame ; Leather Work ; Modelling in Clay; Transferring; Crayon Drawing; 
Photograph Coloring, etc., etc. A very complete book, and one that no young lady having spare time 
can atlbrd to be without. Mailed for 20 cents. 

The Dancei''s Guide and Bail-Room Companion.— Including Etiquette of the 

Ball-Room This is one of the best and most complete books ever published, and it contains all that is 
requiied to know, by the most plain or fashionable, of ball-room etiquette, behavior, manners, etc., 
besides containing full and minute directions for all of the popular and fashionable dances, with ample ex- 
planations, calls, etc. Mailed for 25 cents. 

The American Sphinx.— A choice, curious and complete collection of Anagrams, 
Enigmas. Charades, Rebuses, Problems. Puzzles, Cryptographs, Riddles, Conundrums, Decapitations, 
Word Changes, etc , etc. Profusely Illustrated. Mailed for 25 cents 

Our Bovs' and Girls' Favorite Speaker.— Containing patriotic. Sentimental Poetical 
and Comic Gems of Oratory, by Chapin, Dickens, Dow, Jr., Beecher, Bums, Artemus Ward, Everett, 
Tennyson, Webster, and others Mailed for 20 cents. 

Life in the Back Woods.— A Guide to the Successful Hunting and Trapping of all 
kinds of Animals. This is at once the most complete and practical book now in the market. Mailed 
for 20 cents. 

Address FRANK M. REED. 

139 Eiffbtb Street, Neiv York. 



Good Books Mailed on Eeceipt qf Price. 



The Housewife's Treasure.— A manual of information of everytliins that relates to 
household economies. It gives the method of making Jackson's Universal Washing Compound, which 
will clean the diitiest cotton, linen or woolen cloths in twenty minutes without rubbing or banning the 
material. This nceipt is being constantly peddled through the country at $5 each, and is certainly worth it. 
It also tells all about soap-making at home, so as to make it cost about one-quarter of what bar-soap costs ; 
it tells how to make candles by moulding or dipping; it gives seven metliods for destroying rats and 
mice ; how to make healthy bread without flour (something entirely new) ; to preserve clothes and furs 
from moths ; a sure plan of destroying house flies, cockroaches, beetles, ants, btd-bugs and fleas ; all 
about house-cleaning, papering, etc., etc., and hundreds of other valuable hints just such as housekeepers 
are wanting to know. Mailed for 30 cents. 

Secrets for Farmers.— This book tells how to restore rancid butter to its orijiinal 
flavor and purity ; a new way of coloring butter ; bow largely to increase the milk of cows ; a sure cure 
for kicking cows ; how to make Thorley's celebrated condimental food for cattle ; how to make hens lay 
every day in the year ; it gives an effectual remedy for the Canada thistle ; to save mice girded trees ; a 
certain plan to destroy the curculo and peach borer ; how to convert dead animals and bones into manure ; 
Barnet's certain preventive for the potato rot, worth $50 to any farmer ; remedy for smut in wheat ; to cure 
bliglit in fruit-trees; to destroy the potato bug; to prevent riiildew and rust in wheat; to destroy the cut 
worm; home-made stump machine, as good as any sold ; to keep cellars from freezing, etc., etc. It is im- 
poa3il)le to give the full contents of this very valuable book here, space will not allow. It wiU be mailed 
for 30 cents. 

Preserving and Manufacturing Secrets. — This book gives plain directions for 

preserving, canning, and storing all kinds of fruits and vegetables, and for manufacturing all kinds 
of foreign and domestic liquors, home-made wines and summer beverages. It gives a new, simple 
and cheap plan of preserving eggs fresli for five years (if necessary), so that when opened they will taste 
as if freshly laid. This receipt alone has often been sold for $5. It teUs housekeepers now to make all 
varieties of palatable and delicious fruit jellies and jams. It shows how to make a fruity and sweet-tasting 
cider without apples that when bottled will foam and effervesce like genuine champagne. It tells how to 
keep fruit and vegetables fresh all the year round. All about pickling. How to make all kinds of liquors 
at home at a trifling expense, and which cannot be told from that sold at $5 to $10 a gallon, etc., etc. 
MaUed for only 50 cents. 

The Lover's Companion. — A book no lover should be without. It gives Handker- 
chief, Parasol, Glove and Fan Flirtations ; also. Window and Dining-table Signalling ; The Language of 
Flowers ; How to kiss deliciously ; Love Letters, and how to write them, with specimens ; Bashfulnesa and 
Timidity, and how to overcome them, etc., etc. Mailed tor 25 cents. 

Magic Trick Cards. — Used by Magicians for performing Wonderful Tricks. Every boy 
a magician ! Every man a conjurer ! Every girl a witch ! Every one astonished 1 They are the most 
superior Trick Cards ever offered for sale, and with them you can perform some of the most remarkable 
illusions ever discovered. Mailed, with full directions, for 25 cents a pack. 

The Black Art Fully Exposed and Laid Bare. — This book contains some of the 

most marvellous things in ancient and modern magic, jugglery, etc., ever printed, and has to be seen to 
be fully appreciated. Suffice it to say that any boy knowing the secrets it contains will be able to do 
things that will astonish all. Illustrated. Mailed for 25 cents. 

The Magic Dial. — A perfectly new invention, by the use of which secret correspondence 
may be carried on without the fear of detection. It is simple, reliable, and can be used by any person. 
By its use the postal card is made as private as a sealed letter. It is just the thing tor lovers. Mailed 
for 25 cents, or two for 40 cents. 

How to Entertain a Social Party. — A Collection of Tableaux, Games, Amusing 
Experiments, Diversions. Card Tricks, Parlor Magic, Philosophical Recreations, etc. Profusely Illustrated. 
This book contains chaste and enjoyable amusement and entertainment enough for a whole winter. 
Mailed for 25 cents. 

Educating the Horse. — A new and improved system of educating the horse Also a 
treatise on shoeing, with new and valuable receipts for diseases of horses, together with the Rules of the 
Union Course. This book contains matter not to be found in any other work on the horse. Mailed for 25 
cents. 

Swimming and Skating.— A complete Guide for learners. Every reader should possess 
this l)ook so as to learn how to swim. ]Wany a young life has been nipped in the bud, many a home 
made desolate for the want of knowing how to swim. Very fully illustrated. Mailed for 20 cents. 

Singing Made Easy. — Explaining the pure Italian method of producing and cultivating 
the Voice, the Management of the Breath, the best way of Improving the Ear, and mucli valuable in- 
formation, equally useful to professional singers and amateurs. Mailed for 20 Cints. 

Shadow Pantomime of Mother Goose.— A miniature theatte for the children, with 
stage, scenery, figures, and everything complete to perform the laugh.ible Shadow Pantomime of Mother 
Goose. A book of explanations, with 14 engravings, accompanies it. Mailed for 30 cents. 

The Amateur's Guide to Magic and Mystery. — An entirely new work, containing 
full and ample instructions on the Mysteries of Magic, Slei'ght-of-Hand Tricks, Card Tricks, etc. The 
best work on Conjuring for Amateurs published. Illustrated. Mailed for 25 cents. 

The Happy Home Songster. — A casket of time-honored vocal gems. Only favorite 
and world-wide known songs are admitted in this and following book. Mailed for 20 cents. 

The Fireside Songster. — A collection of the best-known sentimental, humorous, and 
eomic songs. Mailed for 20 cents. 

Address FRAIVK 91. REED, 

139 Eig;btb Street, Ncvr York. 



Good Books Mailed on Receipt of Price. 



How to Talk and Debate.— Contents.— Introduction — Laws of Conversation — Lis- 
tening — Self-p08session— Appreciativeness —Conversation, when coufldental— The matter and the manner- 
Proper aubjeets -Trifles -Objectionable subjects— Politica— Rights of women— Wit and humor— Congenial- 
ity— Vampires and parasites— Pretenders— Books and plays— Long talks— Assumption of W'sdom— Provin- 
cialisms- Questions and negatives -Our own hobbies— Affability — Comparisons and similes— Discursive- 
ness— Distinct utterance- Accent and pronunciation— The voice, how to improve— Temper- Speaking one's 
mind— Slander— Ejaculations -Fashion -Public Speaking— How to make a speech— The exordium— Thread 
of conversation— incongruities— Stammering and hesitating— Brevity— Declamation — Extemporaneous ora- 
tory— Written speech— J'emper and personalities— Redundances- Opening a debate— Division of the sub- 
ject— Tlie aifirmative— The reply, etc., etc. A really valuable book, and one that every man and woman, 
boy and girl should possess. Mailed for 16 cents. 

Salt, Pepper and Mustard ; or, Spice for the million. The latest, greatest, and fun- 
niest of all " phunny " books. Everybody wants it. It is just the thing for a spare hour, a rainy day, or 
a wintry evening, or to make your dinner digest well. About five minutes after finishing dinner take a dip 
into ** Salt, Pepper and Mustard," and you will never be troubled by indegestion, or dyspepsia. But don't 
send for it unless your buttons are well sewed on. Ready-made clothing stands no sort of a chance when 
" Salt, Pepper and Mustard " is being read and devoured Finally, don't buy ana carry it home if any of 
your friends have weak backs : they couldn't endure it for a single moment. It has ruined thousands of 
sober faces for ever. Mailed for 20 cents. 

The Swindlers of America— Who They Are and How They Work — This is the most 
complete book of the kind published. It fully exposes every trick, snare, and plan used by humbugs, 
rogues, and swindlers to entrap the unwary, through the mails and otherwise, and oheat them of their 
dollars and cents. You may think yourself " shni-p " ; but there are others shaper than you are ; and if 
you are a sensible man or woman, before sending money to every Tom, Dick, and Harry that may send you 
a letter or circular, you will send for this book, read it carefully, and remember its contents. Mailed for 
25 cents. 

Spectral Illusions.— A new and wonderful Method of showing Ghosts of any color, in 
every man's house, without the aid of a medium, affording an immense amount of innocent amusement for 
the home circle. This wonderful discovery is based on scientific principles, and the unprecedented demand 
for it shows it to be one of the wonders of the age. Mailed post-paid with full directions for 50 cents. 

The Management and Care of Infants and Children.— By Geo. Combe, M.D. 

This is the best book ever written on the subject, and is one that no mother of a family can afford to be 
without Its usual price in the book stores is $1.50, but it will be mailed— the Uitesl and most complete 
edition — for only 75 cents. 

Iiaughing Gas. — A Repository of Fun. Wit, and Humor. Containing the richest Comical 
Stories, side-splitting Jokes, humorou.s Poetry, quaint Yams, brightest Scintillations of Wit. Profusely Il- 
lustrated with funny Engravings. Altogether it contains the merriest , thoughts of the merriest men. 
Mailed for 25 cents. 

The Common Sense Cook Book.— Showing fully What to Eat and How to Cook it. 

With very full directions on 'The Home Method of Presei-ving, Canning, and Drj'ine: Fruits and Vegeta- 
bles. It tells also about Poisons in daily use and how to detect them. Mailed for 20 cents. 

Robinson Crusoe.— The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe. A new and complete 
edition of this fascinating and ever readable book, containing over 34 beautiful engravings. Every boy and 
girl from eight to eighty should possess and read it. flailed for only 30 cents. 

The Jolly Joker's Game Bag.— Containing nny immber of Komic Kuts, and bursting 
with Laughable Stories, Witty Sayings, Queer Yarns, Odd Conundrums, Humourous Jokes, and, better 
than all, is mailed for only 15 cents. 

An Easy Road to Fortune ; or. Fifty Ways of Coining Money. A new book well 
worth a hundred times the price asked for it. No capital required, can be done at home or abroad, day or 
evening. Mailed for 50 cents. 

How to Write Short-Hand.— By the aid of this book any person of the most ordinal. v 
intelligence may learn to write short-hand, and report sermons, lectures, speeches, etc. Mailed lor la 
cents. 

Every Lady Her Own Dressmaker.— A new book on Dressmaking, Bleaching, 

Ironing, Renovating, Dyeing, etc., etc. Mailed for 20 cents. 

Photographs.— Tm/tr first class Photographs, copies of Celebrated Paintings of Portraits, 
all different. Mailed for 50 cents, or Thirty for one dollar. 

Chromes.— rw<'/t'« beautiful artistic Chromos, mounted, Landscape or Figures, all dlflferent. 
Mailed for 50 cents, or Thirty for one dollar. 

Address FRAMK M. REED, 

139 Eiffbth Street, Ne^v York. 



THE 



HOUSEWIFE'S TREASURE. 



A MANUAL OF INFORMATION 



ON 



EVERYTHING THAT RELATES TO 



HOUSEHOLD ECONOMIES 



NEW YORK : 

fiia.i^k: m:. reed, x^tjbliseler. 



TWO aRKAT BOOKS. 



OLD SECRETS AND NEW DISCOVERIES : 

Containing Information of Bare Value for all Classes, in all Conditions 

of Society. 

It tells all about Electrical Psychology, showing liow you can biologize any person, and whUe under the 
influence he will do any thing you may wish him, no matter how lidiculous it may be, and Le cannot help 
doing it , also, how to mesmerize — a secret that has been sold over and over again tbr $10 ; how to make a 
person at a distance think of you, and how to chai-m those you meet and make them love you, whetherihey 
will or not. 

It tells how to make the wonderful Magic or Invisible Photographs and Spirit Pictures ; the Eggs of 
Pharo's Serpents, which when lighted, though but the size of a pea, there issues from it a coiling 8erx)ent ; 
how to perform tlie Davenport Brothers' " Spirit Mysteries " ; how to copy any kind of drawing or picture, 
and more wonderful still, to print pictures fi-om the print itself; how to make gold and siher from tiock- 
tin (the least said about which, the better) ; also, how to take impressions from coins, and how to imitate 
gold and silver. 

It tells how to make a horse appear a3 though he was badly foundered ; to make a horse tem- 
porarily lame ; how to make him stand by hia food and not eat it ; how to cure a horse from the crib or suck- 
ing wiud ; how to put a young countenance on the horse ; how to cover up the heaves ; how to make him 
appear as if he had the glanders ; how to make a true-pulling horse baulk ; how to nerve a horse that is 
lame, etc., etc. These horse secrets are being continually sold at one dollar each. 

It tells how to make a cheap Galvanic Battery ; how to plate and gild without a battery ; how to make 
a candle burn all night; how to make a clock tor 25 cents; how to detect counterfeit money; how to 
banish and prevent mosquitoes from biting ; how to make yellow butter in winter ; Circassian curling 
fluid; Sympathetic or Secret "Writing Ink ; Cologne Water; Aitificial honey ; Stammering; how to make 
large noses small ; to cure drunkenness ; to copy letters without a press : to obtain fresh blown flowers 
in winter , to make a good burning candle from lard ; and scores of other wonderful things for which there 
is no room to mention. " Old Secrets and iV'eio Discovei-ies " is worth $5 to any person, but it will be mailed 
to any addresa on receipt of only 50 cents. 



HEALTH HINTS. 

A new book showing; how to Acquire and Retain Bodily Symmetry, Health, Vigor, and Beauty. Its con- 
tents are as follows : Laws of Beauty — Air, Sunsliine, Water, and Food— Work and Rest— Dress and Orna- 
ment—The Hair and its Management— Skin and Complexion — the Mouth — The Eyes, Ears and Nose— 
The Neck, Hands, and Feet — Growth and Marks that are Enemies of Beauty— Cosmetics and Perfumery. 

Fat People.— It gives ample rules how Corpulency may be Cured — the Eat made Lean, Comely and 
Active. 

I^ean People. — It also gives directions, the following of which will enable Lean, Angular, Bony 
or Sharp Visaged People, to be Plump and Rosy Skinned. 

Gray H-.iir.— It tells how Gray Hair may be Restored to its natural color without the aid of Dyes, 
Restorers, or Pomades. 

Baldness.— It gives ample directions for Restoring Hair on Bald Heads, as well as how to stop 
Falling of the Hair, how to Curl the Hair, etc. 

Reai-A and. ITlustacbe.— It tells what Young Men should do to acquire a Fine Silky and Handsome 
Beard and Mustache. 

Freckles and Pimples.— It gives full directions for the Cure of Sunburn, Freckles, Pimples, 
Wrinkles, Warts, etc., so that they can be entirely removed. 

Cosmetics.— This chapter, among other things, gives an Analysis of Perry's Moth and Freckle 
Lotion. Balm of White Lilies, Hagan's Magnolia Balm, Lair'l's Bloom of Youth, Phalon's Enamel, Clark's 
Restorative for the Hair, Chevalier's Life for the Hair, Ayer"s Hair Vigor, Professor Wood's Hair Restor- 
ative, Hair Bestorer America. Gray's Hair Restorative, Phalon's Vitalia. Ring's Vegetable Ambrosia, Mrs. 
Allen's World's Hair Restorer, Hall's Vegetable Sicilian Hair Renewer, Martha Washington Hair Restor- 
ative, etc , etc. (no room tor morel, showing how the lead, etc., in these mixtures cause disease and often- 
times premature death. Mailed for 50 cents 

FRANK M. REED, 

139 EIGUTII STREET, IVETV YOUK. 



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